


Adrift

by LastCorsair



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:15:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26293996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastCorsair/pseuds/LastCorsair
Summary: Weiss Schnee goes missing in a storm at sea. The Weiss her teammates find again is not the Weiss they lost.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

Weiss cursed as she dodged the Sea Feilong's bite. Damn beast was inured to cold and heavily armored, making most of her attacks useless. The beast roared and shot lightning out of its mouth, trying to nail Yang. "Where's Nora when we need her?" Weiss muttered. Then an idea sprang to life. "Yang, I think this thing needs a chaser for all that lightning it's spewing! Care to provide?"

The blonde shot her a puzzled glance, then smiled as she realized where Weiss was going with this. "Glad to oblige, Ice Queen!"

"Don't call me-" the rest was lost to the storm as Yang jumped into the Feilong's mouth, firing blast after blast from Ember Celica down the Grimm's throat. Blake used the beast's distraction to lodge the scabbard from Gambol Shroud between the armored plates on its neck, pulling herself up and around to shred its left wing. The Feilong brought its jaws together hard, trying to crush Yang, only to be disappointed as the blonde brawler jumped back to the ship's deck. "Any more ideas?"

"Just one. Ruby, Ice Flower!" Weiss yelled, calling a glyph in front of their leader's sniper position on top of the deckhouse.

"I gotcha, Weiss!" Ruby started rapid-firing Crescent Rose into the Feilong, drawing its attention away from the others on deck. Ice crystals formed on the huge Grimm's body and it roared again, slamming its claws down on the deck in its furious haste to reach Ruby. Weiss went sprawling, grabbing the railing and holding on for dear life between the Feilong's flailing and the ship's pitching in the storm

"Weiss! Yang yelled, running for the white-haired former heiress, but it was too late. Weiss' grip on the rain-slick railing gave way, and she plummeted into the turbulent ocean below.

* * *

By noon the next day, there was still no sign of Weiss. The storm had broken with the dawn, and the ship's captain had sent its small boats and even the little airship out looking.

All for nothing. Yang stared desolately over the ocean that had claimed Weiss. Blake and Ruby sat down on either side of her. "Sis, the captain says she's not here. She could be miles from here by now, with that storm and everything."

"Then we keep looking! We have to find her! We just have to," Yang trailed off despairingly.

"Don't worry, Yang. We've passed the word to every ship and airship in the area. She'll be found."

* * *

The seas of Remnant are harsh and unforgiving. The Grimm are an everpresent danger, and the seas is as cruel and unforgiving on Remnant as she is on Earth. So when a fisherman hauls in his catch on Remnant, he has a weapon handy just in case he's hauled up a small ocean-going Grimm.

This time, he was lucky. Just the pale body of a pale young woman, probably washed overboard in some storm or another. He starts to haul her to the side, figuring he'd deal with her after sorting his catch, only to drop her in shock as she moans. "Hey, are you okay?" he asks, kneeling over her.

"Nngghh," she moans again, coughing up seawater.

"What's your name? Stay with me, I've got you." Another fisherman brings up a blanket, wrapping the woman in it.

"Name...?"

"Yeah, what's your name?"

"I'm...I don't...I can't remember..."


	2. Chapter 2

"I hate coming back here."

Ruby jabbed her sister in the ribs. "We've never been to this island before, Yang."

"You know what I mean." Yang looked out across the, admittedly blameless, sleepy little fishing village before them. "Coming back to this area just reminds me of her, that's all."

"I know, Yang." Ruby reached out and gave Yang's hand a squeeze. "But it's been over a year, and there's still no sign of her. Maybe it's time to accept that she's gone forever?"

"Maybe." The admission was a dagger in Yang's heart, her mind flashing back to that night. If only she'd been a little faster... "It's the Huntress's life, after all. Sooner or later, most Huntsmen fall to the Grimm. I just wish it hadn't taken her quite so quickly, that's all."

"Me too, Yang, me too."

* * *

"Ireia!"

"Yes, sir?" The white-haired girl stood from where she was searching through the filing cabinet. "Still no sign of that invoice we were looking for. I'm starting to wonder if Callie is just messing with us to see if she can get away with it."

Mayor Barut laughed. "No bet on that one. It's not the first time she's tried to scam me or my predecessor. Now, I just got word that the ship carrying the Huntresses that are going to take care of our little Lancer problem has arrived. Run down to the docks and bring them up to my office, will you?"

"Right away, sir." Barut grinned as he watched Ireia through his office window. She mounted her bicycle and was away in a flash, long, slender legs sending her zipping down the road. All things considered, she had settled in rather well here.

Ireia's legs pumped as she wove her way through the town, dodging vehicles and pedestrians alike with gleeful abandon. She knew some people thought she was insane the way she rode. Ireia didn't really care. She'd already lost everything once; what more did she have to lose?

She leaned into a wide turn as she approached the docks, sliding between a truck leaving the docks and a building. Okay, she _might_ have cut that one a little close. But something in her soul screamed for excitement, excitement she wasn't finding in this little town. She was destined for greater, larger things, she just knew it.

Once she reached the pier, she dismounted and walked her bicycle. No sense making the crewmen mad; they were her greatest source of information. Luckily the ship with the huntresses was docked on a relatively empty pier; cargo ships didn't dock here much. Aha, that had to be them. Nobody dressed like that here. It was all practical, sensible clothing. Not a stitch of anything fashionable. "Hello over there! Are you the Huntresses? The mayor sent me to meet you."

Team R_BY stood on the dock, wondering where to go. Everyone and everything around them seemed to know where it was going and what it was supposed to be going. "So, let's ask directions to the mayor's office? He's the one that hired us after all." Ruby said, glancing at her teammates.

Yang shrugged. "Suits me just fine. The sooner we get started, the sooner we can-"

"Hello over there! Are you the Huntresses? The mayor sent me to meet you." Walking toward them was a white-haired woman pushing a bicycle. "Call me Ireia, everyone does, on account of-"

Yang's jaw dropped in shock "W-Weiss?" she squeaked.

The white-haired woman stopped, her gaze snapping to Yang. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

A strident buzzing filled the air, and alarm klaxons began to sound. "Lancer attack!" Ireia yelled. "Everyone take cover! Time to earn your pay, Huntresses!"She shot a glance at Yang as she pulled a pistol from behind her back. "And don't even _think_ I"m done with you, blondie."

Ruby pulled Crescent Rose from behind her back, unfolding it into its rifle form. "Come on, Yang, we've got to get to work."

"But-"

"Fight now, reunion later. Even if it _is_ her, she doesn't have Myrtenaster, does she? Come on!" Blake and Ruby jumped away, seeking altitude to better assess the situation. Yang sighed, shooting a glance at where Ireia had disappeared to before following them.

Luckily it was only four Lancers this time. Ruby opened fire with Crescent Rose, shooting wild as her teammates fell back to draw the Lancers over ground. The Huntresses had fought a battle in a harbor before, jumping from ship to ship. It sucked bad enough they vowed not to do it again if they could avoid it.

Blake rolled, dodging a Lancer's stinger even as she brought Gambol Shroud up to slice through the tether. She jumped back the Grimm swooped down to strike at her with its jagged pincers, leaving an icy shadow clone behind to ensnare the Lancer. Blake flipped Gambol Shroud's blade backward, rapid-firing the pistol into the buzzing Grimm's head even as it fought to break free.

Yang launched herself onto one of the other Lancers, shattering its head with one mighty blow and dropping back to the ground, ready for another foe. She wanted this fight _over_ , dammit.

Ruby, on the other hand, was having fun. It wasn't often she got to fight flying Grimm. She darted to one side using her Semblance even as she extended Crescent Rose into its full scythe form. Zipping up the side of a building, Ruby kicked off, slashing a Lancer in half and looking around for the last one.

The final Lancer was buzzing around the pier, darting in and around stacks of crates. Someone was annoying the airborne Grimm with pistol fire, and Ruby would have bet a year's supply of cookies she knew who. Chocolate chip, even. She ran towards the pier, shouting, "Ireia! Keep its attention, I'm on my way!"

"I'm not trying to get its attention, I'm trying to _kill it!"_ Ireia yelled, darting out into the open to get a clear shot. She gripped her pistol in both hands, firing shot after shot into the Lancer. The Grimm responded by firing its stinger at her, the harpoon embedding itself in the pier as Ireia fell backward trying to dodge it. Before Ruby could get close enough, Ireia managed to put three rapid shots into the Lancer's head, sending it back to smoke. "Now," she said as Blake and Yang ran up, "here's the thing: I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories before a year ago when a fishing trawler pulled me out of the ocean, half-dead from exposure. Even my name 'Ireia,' is an old Vacuan word for 'nobody.' You three are the first ones I've come across to show any sign of recognizing me. So I'm going to ask a question, and I expect an answer,' Ireia finished, slapping a fresh clip into her pistol and holding it by her side.

The white-haired woman's piercing blue eyes found Yang's lilac orbs. "Who's 'Weiss'? That's what you called me a minute ago, wasn't it?"


	3. Chapter 3

Ruby took a deep breath. Hoo boy, this was gonna be tricky. "Well, you see-"

Suddenly Yang was there, arms wrapped tightly around Ireia. "Weiss, I'm sorry, we looked for you for days and we couldn't find you but here you were and I'm sorry we left you alone for so long and-"

"..can't...breathe..."

"Oh!" Yang let go, holding Ireia at arm's length. "I'm sorry, it's just, I, I missed you so much, we thought you were dead but we found you and here you are and-"

"Stop." Ireia held a finger up in Yang's face. "Take a deep breath, calm down, and start from the beginning. 'Weiss', is that my name? First or last? What's the other half? How do you know me?"

"R-Right." Yang took a couple of deep calming breaths, drawing on a focusing technique she'd originally picked up from Weiss, ironically enough. "Okay, your name is Weiss Schnee, we met at Beacon Academy, the old one, before it got trashed and rebuilt. We were at the Fall of Beacon actually. You're a Huntress, our teammate even. And, and," Yang's voice faltered; how to tell her the most important thing of all? Best to be direct. Weiss would have appreciated that, she might still. "And I'm your wife," she finished, rubbing the finger where she still wore her wedding ring.

There was a stunned silence. Yang stood there, looking over the woman before her, taking in the differences between her and the Weiss she'd known. Her hair was shoulder-length, cut to frame her face. It suited Weiss, actually, softening her features and making her look endearing instead of just plain freaking gorgeous. Gone was the bolero and dress she'd habitually worn, replaced by a blue tank top and shorts. And while Weiss's natural complexion wouldn't ever let her achieve a deep bronze tan, she had definitely gotten some sun. Her eyes were still the same though, the same piercing pale blue, the scar across the left eye.

Finally, Weiss spoke. "A Huntress? Like you three? You mean I can do all that bouncing about like you were just doing?" A nod from Ruby made her grow thoughtful. "That would explain... never mind, not important. Let's just say it tracks with certain tendencies I've noticed in myself." Weiss tilted her head to regard Yang with a puzzled look. "And you say I'm your wife? But... I'm not interested in women, at least not that I've noticed."

"I, I have pictures." Yang pulled out her scroll and started flipping through them. "Here, our first kiss. Ruby caught us, snapped a picture." Yang and Weiss were standing under a streetlight in downtown Atlas City, arms wrapped around each other. Hesitantly, Weiss reached out a hand, stopping short as if afraid to touch it, ruining the miracle of knowing her true name.

"It's real," she whispered. "I really know who I am." She looked up, and Yang could see the tears welling in her eyes. "You never stopped looking, did you?"

"Never. I'm pretty sure the coast guard and police are thoroughly sick of hearing from me by now."

Weiss stood on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around Yang and weeping softly into her shoulder, saying "Thank you," over and over again. Eventually, she pulled back and asked, "Can I see that picture again?"

"That one and hundreds more. Might help you remember."

"What's this?" Weiss's finger traced the length of the sword at her side in the photo. "I've seen this somewhere, I know I have."

"That's your Huntress's weapon, Myrtenaster. Probably lost to the sea. Don't worry, Ruby can build you another one, maybe even better. She's a whiz at weapons"

"Damn right I will!" Ruby pumped her fist. "I bet with some practice you'll be back in action in no-time flat."

Unimaginable joy flashed into burning rage as something clicked in Weiss's brain. Scowling, she stalked towards the town, pistol in her hand. "Weiss, wait, where are you going?" Yang called after her.

"To get some answers!"

* * *

Doctor Leshin wasn't surprised at the urgent banging on his front door. Being the only doctor in town, he was used to people banging on his front door in a panic, either carrying someone injured or sick or telling him to grab his bag and hurry. What did surprise him was the pistol aimed dead between his eyes by the white-haired young woman who'd been fished from the sea a year ago. "Can, can I help you?" he stammered.

"Where is it?" Weiss snarled at him.

"Where's what? I don't understand. You took all your things when you moved out."

"'Moved out'?" Yang asked from behind Weiss.

"We were... involved, for a little while, after my accident. It got uncomfortable. Now, I'm going to ask, one more time, where is my sword? I know you had it, I remember finding it in a closet here. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. But today my _wife_ showed me a picture of us. In it, I'm wearing that sword. So. Where. Is. It?" Weiss pressed the barrel of her pistol into Leshin's skull, forcing him against the doorframe.

"W-Wife?" Leshin stammered, his eyes flicking between Weiss and her teammates.

"Me." Yang stood next to Weiss, glaring at him with arms crossed. "And if you've done something to her, you're not going to like what comes next. Really, really not like."

"I, uh," Leshin swallowed as he saw the rage in Weiss's face. "I buried it in the backyard. In a metal box under the tree."

"Why?" Weiss snarled. "Why did you take _everything_ from me? What possible reason could you have for doing this to me?"

"My parents were both Huntsmen. They, they died when I was young. I thought, I hoped I could save you."

Weiss backhanded him, sending him sprawling to the living room floor. "You _asshole,_ " she spat. "Did you ever think it was my choice? That I _wanted_ to be a Huntress? What gave you the right to decide for me? Bring him. I'm going to find a shovel."

It only took a few minutes of digging to find the box he'd buried under the tree. Weiss took a deep breath as she ran her hands over the lid. Yang reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here, babe. Today and every other day, just like I promised."

Weiss reached up and gave Yang's hand a gentle squeeze. "I know. Even when you weren't with me, you were still here, I think." She opened the box with the reverence one might show a holy relic. Inside was Myrtenaster, dirty and tarnished, but still recognizable. Weiss picked it up and stood, giving her sword an experimental swish. Oh _yes_ , this felt familiar.

"Weiss? I think we need to talk to the mayor now." Ruby knelt next to the box, peering inside.

* * *

Barut looked up as Ireia stormed into his office, three women he didn't recognize behind her, one of them dragging Doctor Leshin along. "Ireia, what's the matter?"

"Call the police. Call the police _now_ before you have to call them because I've _murdered_ that son-of-a-bitch," she snarled, slapping something down on his desk.

Barut's face darkened as he looked at what she'd put on his desk. It was a Huntress's license, with Ireia's face on it, in the name of Weiss Schnee. "He had this?"

"And my other things, including my weapon. A whole _year_ I spent, searching for myself, and he had the answers the whole time."

* * *

Weiss smiled as she ended the call. She was starting to reconnect with the people from her past. That was good. A presence behind her she was once again finding familiar made her smile even more. "Hey, Yang."

"Hey." Yang leaned on the balcony railing, looking at Weiss. "So, how'd your sister take it? How's she doing?"

"She's furious, which somehow feels out of character for her. When I finished telling her the whole story, she was practically screaming at the top of her lungs. I managed to calm her down, though. Reminding her that you and the others were with me helped. Winter plans on bullying our brother into letting her borrow a company airship to get her as fast as possible." Weiss looked through the balcony doors into their rented townhouse. Ruby sat inside, inspecting Myrtenaster on the coffee table. "So what's the verdict? Can the patient be saved?"

"She's not talking yet, but I have seen more than a few grimaces. Listen, uh, we need to talk. About us, I mean."

Weiss sighed. They had to have this conversation sooner or later. "Right."

"Listen, I, I still love you. But I know that to you, I'm a stranger. And everything has got to feel really weird to you right now. So I'm going to ask you for two things." Yang looked down at her feet a thoughtful look on her face. "The first is, let us know if things get too weird for you, and we'll back off a bit. A lot of info coming your way, so if you need space, let us know. We're your friends, after all. The second thing is, I'd like..." Yang sighed heavily. "Even if your memory doesn't come back, even if we don't get back together, I'd like us still to be friends."

Weiss quirked an eyebrow at Yang. "What do you mean, 'don't get back together'? We're married, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but that's the thing. I know that, I remember us getting together, our first kiss, our first date, our wedding, all that stuff, but _you_ don't." Yang reached out with her prosthetic hand and gave Weiss's hand a squeeze. "So I don't want to assume we're going to pick up where we left off. If we want to get back together, it's going to be work. And I'm going to have to try my damnedest not to cheat, okay?"

"That...sounds reasonable." Inside, Ruby had stepped away from Myrtenaster and was rubbing her eyes in thought. "Looks like the doctor's ready to give a diagnosis. Let's hear it."

"So, it's good news and bad news," Ruby said as the pair walked in. "Good news, Myrtenaster can be saved. The bad news is, I don't have what I need on hand to do the work. I just have general maintenance tools and this is going to take shop work. There's corrosion _everywhere_ from the salt water. And then it was left to sit-!"

"Let my sister know what you need, she's frothing at the bit to help," Weiss said as she sat down on the couch, Yang sitting next to her without thinking about it. "So what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Blake said with a stretch, "the three of us have work to do. Or did we get called out for four measly Lancers?"

"No, there's been a whole swarm menacing the fishing boats, including several Queen Lancers. But I was hoping..." Weiss trailed off with a sigh.

"Hoping we could spend the day getting reacquainted?" Yang said with a smile. "Me too, but you can't go hunting with us, not until your weapon's repaired and you remember how. And tomorrow morning the kingdom police should be here to take the doctor into custody and figure out what he's getting charged with."

Weiss nodded. The police were fairly certain Doctor Leshin had committed a crime, but they weren't sure _what_ law he'd actually broken. It was a certainty he'd never practice medicine again. "Okay, but...can I stay here with you, tonight?" At the surprised look on Yang's face, Weiss added, "I can sleep on the couch. I just found you all again, and, and I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Sure, but no couch for you. You can have my room; I'll take the couch."

"But-"

"No arguing. Now let's get ready for bed."

Weiss lay awake for hours, staring at the ceiling. She'd always had this feeling that there should have been _someone_ sharing her bed, she just hadn't known who. Tonight her bed felt even more empty than usual.


	4. Chapter 4

_Darkness..._

_Storm winds howled in her ears, spray lashing at her, stinging her skin. Every instinct she had called out to her to run, hide, find shelter, safety, anywhere but here, but she stood her ground and raised her weapon against the beast._

_Roaring, the beast towered over her, returning the lightning from the storm to the sky before lashing out at her with its claws. She danced back, slashing at one of its claws even as she dodges its blows._

_Suddenly clocks appear everywhere around her, numbers out of order, running backward. She freezes in confusion and the beast takes advantage of her distraction, lashing out with a claw to send he spinning into the dark._

_Before the light fades entirely, a shining angel appears, hand outstretched. She reaches for it, only to find she can't quite reach the angel's life-bringing warmth._

* * *

Ireia's eyes snapped open, her heart pounding in her chest, and she groaned. That same nightmare again. She'd been having it off and on ever since she lost her memory. Ireia sat up in bed, hugging her knees to her chest. A thought crept into her mind as her heart and breathing slowed back to normal. Maybe the dream was related to the night she'd gone over the side, a jumbled mashup of her last memories from before? There had been a storm, after all, and the shining angel could be Yang.

Ireia stumbled into the bathroom, flicking on the light and staring at herself in the mirror. "Good morning, Weiss," she muttered at the stranger in the mirror. Yes, it was the same face that had stared back at her for the past year, but now there was a _history_ behind that face, one she didn't know. And now she cursed herself as she realized she'd been thinking of herself as Ireia since she woke up.

"Weiss Schnee, your name is Weiss Schnee, you're a Huntress, and your wife is Yang Xiao Long," she repeated to herself over and over again, trying to fix her identity in her mind. It was hard. The Weiss Schnee on the Huntsman's license, in the photographs, had been a strong, capable Huntress. The person looking back at her in the mirror was a shattered, broken shell. _I"m still here,_ she thought, _I just have to fill me back up with me._

Yesterday morning she'd been Ireia, a woman in search of her past. Today she was Weiss Schnee, a woman with a past unknown to her. _Today begins the second age of Weiss Schnee._ By all accounts, Weiss Schnee hadn't been afraid of much of anything. Certainly, Ireia hadn't found many things she was scared of. Well, maybe bad storms, but that was rather understandable, all things considered.

She wandered out into the living room towards the kitchen, stopping to re-cover Yang with the blanket she'd thrown off. Weiss smiled as she wondered if Yang was this restless a sleeper when they shared a bed, or if just having someone near her calmed the blonde's tossing and turning. Idly she ran a hand over the prosthetic sitting on the coffee table. So Yang took it off when she slept. How and where had she lost the arm? Was it during a hunt? A panicked thought crept into Weiss's mind. Had Weiss somehow failed Yang, costing her the arm? Was losing her memories some sort of cosmic re-balancing in exchange for Yang's arm? Weiss shook her head. She'd have to get the story of Yang's arm and the night she lost her memories later today before the others left on their hunt. Weiss had been so overjoyed at finding herself yesterday that she'd forgotten to find out how she'd been lost. One more question for the list.

Weiss rose and walked into the kitchen, making coffee. It was early enough that on any other day she would have gone back to bed, but today she was too keyed up to sleep. Today answers began. Little things, like how did Yang take her coffee? Did Yang drink coffee? What about Blake and Ruby? What about Yang's family? Oh, gods, she was going to have to meet Yang's parents _again_. Except this time it was going to be all weird and awkward because they'd know her and she wouldn't know them. Well, they'd just have to deal with it because Weiss Schnee was _back_ , dammit, and she was going to reclaim what was hers!

With that thought firmly in mind, Weiss fixed herself a cup of coffee and went to sit on the front porch to wait for the others to wake up. Hopefully, she'd be able to keep this morning from being too much of an interrogation, but she couldn't ignore the questions burning in her brain, either.

"Ireia! There you are!" Suppressing a groan, she looked up from her coffee to see a cross old woman scowling at her from the sidewalk. "What's this I hear about you tossing Doctor Leshin in jail? After everything he's done for you! The man took you in, nursed you back to health, and this is how you repay him? I know you've lost your memory, but that's no excuse for this sort of behavior!"

"No excuse? _No excuse?_ " Weiss stalked towards the old woman, snarling. "He stole everything from me, Mrs. Levinson! He knew, _knew_ , who I was. We found my ID in a box in his backyard for god's sake! And my name isn't Ireia, it's Weiss, Weiss Schnee, and I'd have known that a year ago if he hadn't stolen everything and buried it! 'Doctor' Leshin—and calling him that is a gross insult to the medical profession—tried to 'save me' from the life I'd chosen. He might have gotten away with it if my _wife_ hadn't been one of the Huntresses that arrived yesterday." Weiss clawed at her back for the pistol she normally wore only to find it missing. "So you and your gout and your back and your heart and all your other complaints that just add up to being a cranky old _bitch_ can go fuck themselves!"

"Well, I never!" Mrs. Levinson drew herself up to her unimpressive full height. "Young lady, I can understand your distress, but still, that's no reason to deny this town its doctor. Think of everyone around here. You'll simply have to drop the charges."

"I don't think so." A white-haired woman wearing a longcoat had pulled up in a small white van and stepped out. "Given what I've just witnessed, I'm going to give you the option of leaving on your own two feet, or a stretcher. This is a limited-time offer, so I suggest you leave quickly. As in now."

"And just who do you think you are, young lady?" Mrs. Levinson sniffed.

"Winter Schnee, Weiss's sister." Winter crossed her arms, glaring at Mrs. Levinson. "Your time is running out. And I feel obliged to inform you that while my sister may not remember her time at combat school, I firmly remember mine. Go."

The woman stormed off, muttering something about seeing what the mayor had to say about this, leaving Weiss and Winter standing there, staring at each other. Winter spoke first. "Hello, Weiss. I presume you don't remember what I look like, but we spoke last night when Ruby called. Does my voice sound familiar?"

Weiss nodded, her mind drifting back to last night...

[break]

_Ruby took a deep breath before setting her scroll down on the patio table. "Okay, this is your show, and you said you wanted to call your family first. The best person to start with is probably your sister, Winter. You were a lot closer to her than your brother. Your father—and it is ''Father' to his face, not 'Dad'—is still in prison. A few years ago, you and your sister teamed up to take control of the family company from your father, which is part of how he ended up in prison. Winter, that's your sister, acted as trustee for the family company until Whitely, your brother, was old enough. It's currently in the process of control being transferred to him. And your mother is currently in rehab. Again." She paused to catch her breath, looking at Weiss. "And that's the Lien tour of your family history. Questions?"_

" _Many, but let's get this out of the way first."_

_Ruby nodded and hit the button to start the call. "Yes, Ruby? What is it? I was just about to step out for the evening." Winter's voice had a crisp, Atlesian accent that Weiss could hear echoes of in her own voice._

" _You're probably gonna want to cancel those plans, and maybe sit down." Ruby lifted a finger to her lips, silencing Weiss as she opened her mouth to speak. "We found Weiss."_

" _What?! Where is she? Why wasn't she found sooner? Is she alive?" Sounds of a door being slammed and footsteps on a tile floor came across the call. "Okay, I am now sitting down. Now start explaining Ruby."_

" _Okay, remember that easy little job Blake, Yang, and I took clearing out a Lancer nest? Turns out Weiss has been in that little fishing town the whole time." Ruby bit her lip; how to tell Winter her sister was alive but gone? "Winter, there's no easy way to put this: Weiss has lost her memory. She doesn't remember anything from before a fishing boat pulled her out of the ocean."_

" _Oh my god." Winter's composure broke as she continued. "How is Yang taking it?"_

" _She's still taking it in, I think. The complicating thing is, well, it looks like the town doctor deliberately hid Weiss's identity when she was found." Ruby cringed at the eruption of sound that came from the scroll._

" _WHAT?! I'll kill him, I'll burn that whole town to the ground, no, I'll buy it and turn the place into a giant parking lot. Or even better, I'll have it condemned. That should do it." Winter's voice rose as she spoke, ending as a near-shriek._

" _Winter, calm down," Weiss snapped. "We've already called the police, and there's no need to punish the entire town for what Doctor Leshin did. He's already sitting in a jail cell."_

" _Weiss?" Winter's voice was quavering, hesitant. "Is that, is that you?"_

_"So they're telling me. And I presume you're my sister, Winter?"_

" _Yes." There was relief in Winter's voice. "I'm so glad to hear from you, sister. We thought we'd lost you forever. How are you doing? Other than the obvious thing."_

" _I'm fine." The response dropped from Weiss's lips reflexively. "I'm adjusting, my teammates are being very helpful."_

" _That's good to hear. Ruby, may I speak to my sister in private, please?" After Ruby had left, Winter sighed. "I know very well the tone in which you said 'I'm fine,' Weiss. It means you're not fine, not really, but you're pretending to be to make everyone feel better."_

_'I'm... it's just so fucking much, you know? All of this, finding out who I am, meeting my 'wife,' and finding out the doctor I trusted was lying the whole time, all at once!" Weiss shivered. Dammit, this sister-stranger knew her too damn well. Weiss noticed she was starting to cry and wiped her eyes. She would **not** be weak, dammit!_

" _Weiss..." Winter's tone was calm and level now.. "You are fine. I'm no psychiatrist but I"m fairly certain that after all of that, feeling overwhelmed is perfectly normal. Now slow down and tell me your whole story, from the beginning. You need someone to talk to, and I do believe that's one of the jobs of an older sibling."_

* * *

"Actually, I have seen you in some of the pictures Yang showed me last night," Weiss said, nodding. "I noticed your hair, but didn't realize you were a relative of mine."

"Good. Whitley sends his regards and regrets not being able to come himself, but matters within the company demand his attention right now." Winter gestured towards the van. "Most of what Miss Rose asked for is in the van; the rest will follow as soon as Whitley can get it together for us. Oh, and he sent this to you." Winter held out a scroll. Weiss started to protest that she already had a scroll, but her sister shook her head. "Not quite like this one, I wager. This is a combat-grade scroll, made for Huntresses and other people in high-risk jobs. It's the latest version of the model you were using when you disappeared, and already has your contacts and such loaded. Whitley thought you might find it useful."

Weiss took it gingerly. "How did he get all that, especially that fast? Aren't those things supposed to be private?"

"As Yang would probably put it, 'Money talks and bullshit walks.' He probably bribed someone. Whitley can be incredibly focused at times." The sisters shared a dry laugh, then Winter gestured at the house. "Should we step inside?"

"I'm the only one awake right now." Weiss frowned, then her face brightened. "But I do know a small cafe nearby that should be open by now. We could grab a cup of coffee there, and I can show you a bit of the town."

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Winter stepped over to the railing at the edge of the road to look at the town spread below them. "You spent a year here as Ireia, show me her world."

They wandered the sleepy early-morning streets of the town, Weiss pointing out various sights to her sister and introducing her to people they met. A few had heard a version of the same story that Mrs. Levinson had, but after Weiss explained what was going on, everyone understood. One burly man shook his head in dismay, saying "And I was taking my kids to see him without a thought. If only I'd known."

Weiss shook her head. " Don't be hard on yourself. Nobody knew what he did. I might have known if Yang hadn't shown me that picture."

Eventually, they came to a small cafe, perched on the road overlooking the town. "Good morning Ireia. Your usual today? And who's your friend?" the man sweeping the patio called out on as they approached.

"Just coffee for now. And this is my sister Winter," Weiss replied, taking a seat at her usual table next to the railing.

"Got it, coffee's still brewing so that's going to be a couple of minutes. And it's nice to meet you, Win-" the man stopped in mid-sweep as he caught on to what Weiss had said." _Sister?_ Does that mean you know who you are, now? That's amazing!" He beamed, bowing deeply to Winter. "It's a pleasure to meet the woman who's brought a dear friend back to herself. And may I know your name, that I may greet thee properly, fair maiden?"

"It's Weiss, Weiss Schnee, and Winter wasn't the one that ID'd me. That was..." Weiss paused as the words caught in her throat. Who knew one word could be so scary? "That was my wife, Yang."

"You'll have to bring her by sometime, I'd love to meet her. Let me go see about that coffee." He bustled inside to see if the coffee was done brewing.

The sisters chatted for a bit, Weiss talking about her life as Ireia, Winter remarking on some of the differences between that and her life before her accident. The man—Damien was his name, it turned out—set two cups of coffee in front of them. Winter quirked an eyebrow at Weiss's cup. "What is that on top of your coffee?"

"It's whipped cream, Winter, don't try and tell me you've never seen it before," Weiss sighed as she took the first sip."Mm, that's good."

"You used to take it black, that's all."

"I'm sorry, I guess I should-"

"Stop." Winter's voice was firm, but caring at the same time. "Weiss, I don't know how a therapist would put this— and trust me, you're probably going to end up talking to one when you get home—but I am fairly certain that it's 'okay' that you're not the same as you were. You spent a year not being Weiss Schnee. People change normally, you've just changed a bit more than most."

"I suppose." Weiss's eyes were drawn to the horizon, where the sun was just starting to make itself known. Below her, she could see movement on the docks, most likely fishermen preparing to set out for the day, trying to catch the morning tide.

"I'll give you a good example. You and some friends go a bar. What are you drinking?" Winter propped her chin on her left hand, giving Weiss a challenging look as she waited for Weiss's reply.

"Beer, something on tap or in a glass bottle, I hate beer in cans. Why, what would I have ordered before?"

"Up until the Fall of Beacon, you'd have the odd glass of champagne or wine, but only on social occasions. People who drank excessively upset you greatly, mostly due to Mother I would assume. After... after the attack on Mistral Academy, where you almost died, at least the first time, you started to drink a little more, but still stuck to wine. But a few years into your and Yang's relationship, you developed a taste for beer, her drink of choice. And yes, before your accident, you preferred your beer either on tap or in a glass bottle, not from a can. So in some ways, you are still the same person."

"I... I almost died?" Weiss blinked in shock. "How... where...? Was it working as a Huntress?"

"No, you were impaled by a woman named Cinder Fall, who was working for... well, that's a long story that should be told in private. She isn't an issue anymore; Cinder is dead and has been for quite some time." Winter shook her head. "But you were saved by Jaune Arc, I don't know if anyone's mentioned him to you yet. He is another Huntsman, an ally and sometimes teammate of yours." Winter gestured towards Weiss's stomach. "That's where you got one of the scars on your stomach, in case you were wondering. Rather large, matches one on your back?"

A hand crept to the scar without Weiss really thinking about it. "I wondered... it looked rather severe. Leshin said he wondered how I survived it."

"Prompt attention from Mister Arc. His Semblance is boosting the Auras of others, sometimes to an incredible degree. He boosted yours hard and fast enough it saved your life."

"Right." The sisters chatted for a while, Winter filling her sister in on life in the Schnee family before Weiss's departure for Beacon. While Weiss was laughing over a birthday party for their mother that Whitley had accidentally ruined, Winter's scroll rang." Yes?" she answered. "No, she's here with me." Winter looked embarrassed as she handed her scroll to Weiss. "Apparently we should have left a note."

"Weiss? Where are you? Why did you leave?" Yang's voice was high-pitched and worried. "I woke up and you were gone. And whose van is this parked in front of the house?"

"That's Winter's van, some of the things Ruby needs to work on Myrtenaster are in there, and I'm sorry. Winter was here, and we didn't want to wake everyone up, so we went walking and talking." Weiss glanced at her watch with a groan. Had she and Winter really been talking for two hours?

"Okay." Yang's voice slowed down, and Weiss could hear her taking deep breaths before continuing. "Right, well, the police are here now. I guess they flew overnight like Winter did. And you forgot your scroll. Sorry for panicking."

"It's fine. We'll be back soon, and Whitley sent me a new scroll with my old number on it. A combat-grade one, like I suppose I had before."

"Yeah, no fooling, Huntsmen are hard on our gear. But head back soon, okay? We've got four cops and somebody from the District Attorney's office here, and I'm not sure we have enough coffee."

* * *

Weiss took a deep breath as she sat down facing the lead detective. He opened his scroll and set it on the table to take notes with. "Alright, I'm Agent Rowan. The first thing I want to do is extend to you the apologies from the Vale Bureau of Investigation for not catching this sooner. He should never have gotten away for this, certainly not for this long. In fact, I've been authorized to tell you that this morning, the first formal charge in your case is going to be filed: filing a false police report. Granted, It's a minor charge, but it's a start, and gives us solid cause to hold him."

"Filing a false police-oh, the report when I was found, I assume." Weiss shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. Thinking too hard about Leshin gave her goosebumps.

"That's it exactly. He used someone else's photographs when filing the report, misreported things like your height and weight, and omitted identifying marks. That scar over your left eye, for example, is quite distinctive. All of it combined to make you virtually impossible to identify. "

"Probably forgot the one on my stomach too, and I know he saw that one, he remarked on how he was surprised I survived it."

Rowan flipped through the copy of the report on his scroll. "No, no mention of a scar on your stomach. I'll make a note of it."

Yang cleared her throat. "It, ah, the scar on her stomach is on her back, too. Weiss was impaled."

Rowan made another note, then continued. "Now, Mrs. Schnee, is it Mrs. Schnee?" Yang nodded. "Mrs. Schnee, I'm not going to lie, this investigation might be somewhat hard on you. But you're the victim here, and we're going to get to the bottom of this. Are you okay to begin the interview now? Do you want someone with you?"

Weiss nodded. "Let's begin. And... " She closed her eyes, reaching for the first name that came to mind. "Yang, I want Yang to be with me." Yang smiled and sat down to Wiess's right, giving her a playful punch on her shoulder. Weiss smiled as she shoved Yang back playfully. _The road back to Weiss Schnee has begun. It's not going to be easy, but it will be worth it._


	5. Chapter 5

It was just after dusk when Yang, Blake, and Ruby returned to their temporary home. As Ruby parked the car, they could see Winter stalking back and forth on the front porch, talking to someone on her scroll and scowling. As Yang stepped out of the car, Winter waved her to a halt, still talking on her scroll.

"-yes, I understand that a mistake was made, and the person responsible will be punished. But I think you're failing to understand my position. My sister spent a year not knowing who she was, and she's just starting to put her life back together. Our lawyers will be in touch. Yes, I will ask the investigating officer to contact you. Even though my sister is the victim here, we are naturally cooperating fully with the investigation. Thank you." Winter put her scroll away with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I think I'd rather go through the Fall of Beacon, twice, than talk to those idiots again."

"Problem?" Yang asked with concern, her eyes flicking towards the house. Screaming and smashing dishes could be heard from inside.

"Just after you left for your hunt, Whitley called. He and Weiss spoke for a while, catching up. For once, Whitley seemed genuinely glad to hear from her. After that, he brought the family lawyers onboard, to begin the process of legally bringing my sister back to life, so to speak. A call which obviously took some time." A particularly loud crash from inside made Winter visibly cringe. "Half an hour ago, I got a call from Weiss's life insurance company, asking if my sister was indeed alive. I answered that she was, but before I could explain the situation, they very rudely informed me that they would be filing charges for fraud against you, me, my sister, and anyone else they decided was involved. Weiss, well," Winter shrugged, "Weiss did not take it well, as I think you can tell."

Yang exhaled wearily, blowing her bangs out of her face. Weiss was normally good at keeping her emotions in check, but when she blew, she blew bigtime. "I'll talk her down. Maybe she's less likely to throw things at me than you."

Carefully, Yang crept into the house. "Weiss?" she called out softly. A crash from the direction of the kitchen was the only answer she got. Right. Hopefully, Weiss had confined her destruction to dishes, instead of rampaging through the house. Carefully Yang peered around the corner of the kitchen, only to jerk back quickly as a mug went sailing past her nose to smash against the wall. "Easy, Weiss, it's me, Yang!"

"S-Sorry." Yang peered around the corner to see Weiss sitting on the floor up against one of the cabinets, curled up with her knees against her chest. Smashed dishes lay strewn all over the kitchen. Weiss lifted her head and smiled weakly, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "Guess I made a mess, huh?"

"Not without reason, your sister says." Yang walked across the devastation, shattered crockery crunching under her boots. She sat down next to Weiss, heedless of the broken dishes, draping her arm across Weiss's shoulders. "I'm here, Weiss. Today, tomorrow, the day after that, and as many other tomorrows as you need me. You know that."

"C-Can I ask you something stupid?" Weiss sniffed.

"Dumb questions are free, answers are on a sliding scale," Yang quipped, trying to lighten the mood.

"You always sit on my right. Is there... is there some reason why?"

"Oh, um, when we started dating, we were in Atlas, and it was kinda cold. I went to wrap my right arm around you one time, and you complained that the prosthetic was cold. So I started standing on your right. That's it." Yang lifted her prosthetic arm and looked at it, turning it over in the kitchen's light. "You know, as time goes on, this becomes less and less of a 'thing' and more and more just my arm. Shows you can adapt to just about anything."

"It wasn't... it wasn't my fault you lost the arm, was it?" Weiss held her breath, terrified to learn the answer even as she asked the question.

"What?! No!" Yang looked at Weiss, shocked that Weiss would even think such a thing. "No, it happened at the Fall of Beacon, you know about that, right? I was trying to save Blake from a murderous piece of work by the name of Adam Taurus. Kinda screwed it up. Don't tell me you thought...?"

"This morning, before you left, I got the idea that it was my fault, and I just... I just couldn't let it go." Weiss sniffled. "I'm such a mess, blaming myself for a past I can't remember."

"Hey." Yang leaned over and laid a kiss gently on Weiss's forehead. "It's okay. This isn't even the worst meltdown you've ever had. At least nobody ended up in the hospital this time."

Weiss let out a small laugh. "I-I put someone in the hospital?"

"Your dad, actually. He tried to demand that you change your testimony at his trial, perjure yourself on his behalf. I guess he thought he could still control you. Shows your dad wasn't paying attention to how badass a Huntress you turned into." Yang gently wrapped her arms around Weiss, pulling her close. "I bet somewhere inside you're scared I'm going to abandon you over this. Well, newsflash, princess: I'm not going to abandon you. I love you too much to leave you in pain like this."

"'Princess'?" Weiss snorted. "Is that your pet name for me?"

"It's an old nickname, one that doesn't get used much anymore. When you met the three of us, you were really prissy and arrogant. That changed, for the better if I may say so myself." Yang chuckled. "My pet name for you is 'Snowflake.' I'm, uh, I'm trying not to use it, but just in case I slip..."

"Snowflake." Weiss blushed as she said it. Such a common word, but from Yang's lips it was oddly comforting. "Okay, I guess I could get used to it. What, what about you? Did I have a pet name for you?"

"'Sunflower.'"

"'Sunflower.'" Weiss rolled it around her tongue, trying it on for size. Okay, she could see it. Then she craned her head, trying to see if anyone had followed Yang in before continuing softly. "Something else I wanted to ask. Bake and Ruby seem kind of skittish around each other. Is there something I need to know?"

Yang let a long breath. "Hoo boy, there's a mess. Blake and Ruby were a thing for a while, starting about the time you and I first got together. Then Blake broke up with Ruby and married Sun. Now Sun and Blake are getting divorced. And yeah, Ruby and Blake have been acting odd, spending a lot of time together." She winked at Weiss. "Maybe they're getting back together, maybe Ruby's just helping Blake deal with the divorce. Who knows? They'll tell us when they're ready."

"Weiss? Yang?" Ruby called out from the direction of the front door. "Everything okay? The smashing and yelling's stopped."

Yang looked at Weiss, who smiled softly before yelling, "It's safe to come in now, I've run out of ammunition."

Blake led the way into the kitchen, Ruby close behind. "I take it we're getting takeout tonight?" Blake asked, her cat ears flicking.

"That sounds like an excellent suggestion. We may also need coffee cups for the morning. Who's renting you the house, anyway?" Weiss asked.

"The mayor," Yang replied, helping Weiss to her feet and brushing the two of them off. "This is one of the houses he rents to tourists."

Weiss groaned. "I've still got to officially submit my resignation to him. I guess I'll do that tomorrow when I go apologize for this. And I've got to close my bank account here, and pack up 'Ireia's' stuff, and, and-"

"Hey." Ruby wrapped Weiss in a hug. "The world's not gonna end if you take time to handle those. What's something you can take care of now, something simple?"

"P-Pack up my stuff from the loft I was renting, I suppose. There's not a lot of it, mostly clothes."

"Go do that, then. Blake and I will handle the cleanup. Yang, you go with her, spend some time together."

* * *

The pair walked along the winding roads of the town, streetlights creating pools of stark brightness in the deepening darkness. Finally, Weiss spoke. "Any luck today? With the hunt, I mean."

Yang shook her head in response. "Not much. A few Lancers, a baby Sea Feilong, but no Queen Lancers or sign of their nest." She glanced at Weiss. "If you need to leave, go home for a bit, to handle legal stuff, we'll understand."

"N-No, I don't, shouldn't need to anytime soon, Whitley's unleashed the Schnee family lawyers on that, I was just hoping your day was better than mine." Wess looked up, staring towards the moon barely visible behind the growing cloud cover. "It's just... I spent the last year looking for who I am, and now that I know, going back to that is kind of frightening and exciting at the same time."

"I think I understand. There's all this stuff that comes with your old life, and you're scared of getting overwhelmed by it. Stuff like me, us. Maybe... maybe I should have waited before telling you we were married, but I, I was just so glad to see you, I couldn't-"

"It's okay." Weiss looped her left arm through Yang's right before leading her onward. "Knowing that someone cared enough about me to keep looking after a year, that's helped a lot." She frowned. "That reminds me, where is home? Where do we live? Or do we live a romantic, nomadic life as Huntresses, calling nowhere home but the hunt? I know I'm from Atlas, well I sort of guessed from my accent but now I know for sure, but it doesn't feel like 'home.'"

"The four of us have a place in Vale, near Beacon. When we're home, we visit my dad in Patch fairly often. There's also a guest house on the Schnee estate that's pretty much 'ours,' though we share that with some other allies of ours." Yang hesitated. "When, when we go home, I'll move into one of the guest bedrooms, for a while at least. That way you can have our room, might help jog some memories."

"I see." Inwardly, Weiss wasn't so sure about the idea. "That's very considerate of you. Yang... there's one question the three of you have been avoiding: What happened, the night I disappeared? I know it's a painful subject for you, but I-I want to know. I _need_ to know."

Yang stopped dead in her tracks. "Shit, we haven't, we haven't talked about that, have we? Okay, that's a sit-down conversation. I am not about to start bawling in the middle of the street. Maybe when we get to 'Ireia's' place?"

They walked onward in silence until they reached the house where Weiss had been renting the loft above the garage. Mister Halcyon was glad to see them. "I'd heard you found out who you were, that the Huntresses that showed up were friends of yours, but I was starting to worry a bit when I didn't see you for a few days. Guess this is one of your friends, eh?"

Weiss nodded. "That's correct, as far as it goes. It turns out my name is Weiss Schnee, I'm a Huntress, and this is my wife, Yang Xiao Long." Yang gave a small wave.

"You're a _Huntress?_ That's pretty amazing. Guess you'll be packing up and moving on, then."

Yang nodded. "My partners and I will be here probably a few days, hunting those Lancers that have been bothering you, then I'm going to take Weiss home."

"Yeah, my brother's boat got attacked by Lancers last week. If he didn't have that stupid cannon onboard, that'd be all she wrote." Halcyon's face darkened, "Now what's this about, you and Doc Leshin, uh, Weiss? I've heard some crazy things there."

"It's... complicated," Weiss sighed. "The short version is, he deliberately concealed my identity from me and misfiled the report when I was found, for reasons I won't go into. The long version the VBI is investigating."

"That's not right, him playing god like that. Wish you didn't have to go through that." Halcyon jerked his head toward the garage. "Tell you what, if you need me to, I'll hang onto your stuff until you're ready to collect it."

"That won't be necessary. I'll be staying with Yang and our teammates until our departure. I'm hoping the familiar faces will stimulate my memory a bit."

Yang looked around as she stepped off the ladder into Weiss's loft. There wasn't much, just a futon on the floor, a dresser, a small fridge, and a door into what looked to be a bathroom with a shower. She whistled. "Not a lot of stuff, babe."

Weiss winced as she sat down. "I was trying to let hunches guide me as to what I bought, hoping it might give me a clue to who I was. That didn't really work. Now, " she gestured to a cushion on the floor, tell me about that night."

"You want to know about that night," Yang said, exhaling slowly.

"Yes."

"To be specific and clear, you want to know about the night you disappeared."

"Yes."

"About the night that was the last night I saw you before yesterday morning."

"Yang Xiao Long," Weiss's tone grew sharp enough to cut stone, "I am specifically asking you to tell me about the events of the night I disappeared, the last night of my old life _because I desperately want to know what happened."_ Weiss leaned over and took Yang's hand in hers. "Please, it's, it's important." Yang looked away, muttering something too low for Weiss to catch. "Say that again."

"I fucked up, that's what happened," Yang replied softly, still not looking at Weiss. "I let you down. What happened to you... it's my fault."

"Yang..."

"We were on a ship, on a job. Until the storm came up, we were treating it like a pleasure cruise. I even got you to sunbathe in a bikini, something you never do. And then the storm came, but hiding inside it was something even worse, a Sea Feilong, a big one. Later the captain said it was the biggest he'd ever seen. We were fighting it, and you got knocked flying, holding onto the ship's railing with both hands. I ran to grab, you, but I wasn't fast enough. The last I saw you, you were screaming as you plunged into the ocean. So it's my fault. If I'd been just a little faster, I could have..." Yang was sobbing now.

"Yang..."

"No, it's my fault, I let you down. If I'd killed the Sea Feilong when I jumped in its mouth, if I'd been fast enough to catch you when you were holding onto that railing..." Yang turned to face Weiss, tears running down her face.

"Yang, I-"

"I don't deserve you, not anymore, the way I failed you, I should just, just let you get on with your life-"

 _Slap._ Yang stopped, wordlessly reaching a hand up to where Weiss had struck her.

"Stop. That." Weiss's voice was sharp, commanding. "Did you call up the storm? Summon the Sea Feilong? Make it knock me away? Did you hesitate, even for a moment, before running to help me? Are you the one that decided I didn't need to know who I was, that hid my identity from me?"

"No, but-"

"Stop." Weiss drew in a ragged breath. "Things _happen,_ Yang, and sometimes they're not anybody's fault. You ran to help me, and afterward, you did everything you could to make sure I was found. It's not your fault some crusading island doctor decided I didn't need to be a Huntress anymore. I may have lost my memory, but I have a decent sense of who I am, and I don't think I'd marry a coward or a quitter. Are you a coward or a quitter, Yang Xiao Long?"

"N-No, but-"

Weiss laid a finger on Yang's lips and meet her eyes, lilac orbs meeting pale blue."Then stop. Blaming. Yourself. I don't blame you, I'm not angry with you. The only person I'm mad at right now is Leshin. And maybe that asshole from the insurance company. You said you don't deserve me after you 'failed' me. I think I'll be the judge of that. Now help me pack."

"No skirts," Yang muttered softly as she helped Weiss pack everything into the duffel bag they'd brought."

"What's that?" asked Weiss, stopping in the middle of folding some jeans.

"No skirts, no dresses. Lots of shorts and a few pairs of pants. You seldom wore pants before, sometimes as part of a pants suit."

"I..." Weiss ran the idea around her head for a few moments before replying. "I found I didn't like my legs being covered, or miniskirts or dresses, not for everyday wear."

"Yeah, you liked skirts with pleats and lots of, what's it called, uh, tulle underneath. You like your legs free. Can't blame you, you have _amazing_ legs." Weiss could see a blush creeping up Yang's face before she cleared her throat and set the shorts in her hand inside the duffel bag.

"Now _there's_ my Sunflower," Weiss whispered.

"Huh?" Confusion was on Yang's face as she looked at Weiss.

"Yang, you're brash and confident about everything but me. There, there you're holding back. Stop. I want to get to know the Yang I knew, if that makes sense. You're trying to hold back, keep me at arm's length and treat me like we're strangers, and I think... I think I want you to hold back less." Weiss reached out a hand to cup Yang's face, running her thumb across her cheek. "You, you feel _right_ in a way I can't put into words and I don't want to try and I don't want to even try because I'm afraid I'll ruin it, trying to understand it."

Yang closed her eyes, shivering at Weiss's touch. God, she'd missed this. She dropped her head. "Can I, can I ask you something?"

"Yes." The single word was softly spoken, but firm.

"Was there anyone besides Leshin? While you were Ireia, I mean." Yang held her breath in fear.

"Oh." Now Weiss could see. Yang was afraid she'd moved on, found someone new. "No. And even my involvement with Leshin didn't really last that long. I stayed at his house for a while after my accident. Then he asked me out on a date. We were 'together' for maybe two, three weeks. It was... creepy and awkward, so I ended things and moved out." Weiss's gaze locked onto Yang, fixing her eyes in place. "And I didn't sleep with him. Others asked me out, but I said no. This town, the people here, none of it felt _right_ for me. And now I know why, don't I?" Thunder rolled overhead, making Weiss look up. "Let's hurry. I want to get back to the rental before the storm drops in. For obvious reasons, I have a real problem with storms."

* * *

Weiss huddled under the blankets, shivering and whimpering. This was ridiculous, she'd been a _Huntress_ for god's sake, why was a simple thunderstorm terrifying her so badly. On an intellectual level, she now understood why the storm scared her, but there was a difference between understanding her fear and not being afraid.

She was not going to let this storm beat her, dammit! She was Weiss Schnee, a freaking Huntress for crying out loud. Maybe some soothing tea would help. Weiss crept out from under the covers and drew a deep breath, trying to calm herself, before walking out into the living room.

Lightning flashed, bringing everything into sharp contrasts for an instant before plunging back into near-darkness again. Weiss could see Yang's sleeping form on the couch, lying so she could watch the door to Weiss's bedroom. She smiled. _Even in her sleep, she's watching over me._ A hint of movement drew Weiss's attention, and she turned her head to see Ruby standing in the doorway to her room. "Trouble sleeping?" Ruby whispered. Weiss nodded. "How about chamomile tea and conversation?" Weiss nodded again, and Ruby led the way into the kitchen.

"So you were our team leader, Ruby?" Weiss stopped to inhale the scent of her tea before taking a sip.

"Admitted to Beacon two years early by Professor Ozpin, but he had...ulterior motives, I think is a good way to put it. And even though assigning partners and teams was supposed to be random, I'm wondering if he didn't jigger the process somehow. Me and sis ending up on the same team? The heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and an ex-White Fang member? Something's fishy there."

"Ex-White Fang? Oh, Blake." Weiss thought about it for a moment. That combination did sound kind of odd.

"Yeah, when we all started at Beacon, Blake was hiding her cat ears with a bow she wore everywhere. Don't worry," Ruby added, glancing at Weiss, "she didn't manage to keep it a secret from us for long and you two became good friends."

"Mm. And I hear she's going through a divorce right now?"

"Sadly, yeah. Her and Sun spent a week together in Vacuo on a mission and got married on a whim. It didn't work out. He's too irresponsible and she, well, Blake is more calm, considerate." Ruby sighed. "Right before we left on this mission, she got a call from Sun. He found out his lawyer's been gaslighting him, stretching this out to make more money off it. Sun's got a new lawyer and is filing complaints about the old one."

Weiss couldn't help but notice the wistful tone in Ruby's voice. "It sounds like she needs a good friend right now. She's lucky to have you and Yang."

"Think Yang's gonna be focusing on you for a while, though."

"Indeed." Weiss shivered as thunder rolled loudly overhead. "Storm bothering you?" Ruby asked."

"Yes. I have a real problem with storms now."

"I can see why. I used to be terrified of them when I was little. I'd always end up climbing into Yang's bed, or mom and dad's."

"Okay, weird question: Yang has your dad's name, but you don't. Why?"

"Same dad, different mothers. Yang's mother took off right after she was born, so Yang and then me got raised by my mother. And then my mother died, so dad carried on," Ruby finished, looking down into her tea."

"Sorry to bring up a sore subject."

"No, I'm okay with it, it's been a long time. But don't bring up Raven—that's Yang's mother, sorry—in front of her. Raven, well, every time she's shown up in our lives, it's been trouble for us. Loong story and not one I want to tell over what's supposed to be a soothing cup of tea. Just remember, Yang almost never calls Raven 'mom.' If she says mom, that's Summer Rose, my biological mother."

They chatted a while, Ruby telling Weiss about her and Yang's childhood. Eventually Ruby drifted back off to bed, leaving Weiss swirling the last of her tea around the bottom of her cup. The storm was showing no sign of slacking off and she really needed to get some sleep or she'd be a wreck tomorrow. Well, even more of a wreck.

An idea crept into Weiss's mind, and she started to push it aside, but the thought better of it. Well, she'd had worse ideas. Softly Weiss crept over to the couch where Yang was sleeping and lifted the blanket, carefully sliding underneath next to Yang and wrapping an arm around her. She inhaled deeply, drawing Yang's strangely soothing scent into her nostrils. _Yes._ Somehow the storm didn't seem so terrible after all anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

Yang stretched sleepily. Something was lying on top of her, and she pried an eye open to see what it was. Looking down, she could see a slender arm wrapped around her, just below her breasts. _Oh._ Weiss must have laid down on the couch with her. She smiled softly and settled back down. Yang had been hesitant about physical contact with Weiss, all things considered, but there was no doubt she was suffering from a serious case of wife-snuggle-deprivation and Yang was going to enjoy herself. After all, if Weiss had climbed onto the couch with _her,_ Weiss could hardly be mad, right?

She laid there for a while, enjoying the closeness with Weiss, inhaling her scent, savoring her touch. Weiss's scent wasn't quite the same, of course; she'd probably been using different soap, different shampoo, that sort of thing. But underneath, the smell of _Weiss,_ that was the same, and that Yang had been desperately missing. Yang felt a shiver of delight run through her as Weiss stirred in her sleep, pulling closer to Yang.

A soft click drew Yang's attention and she lifted her head to see Blake stepping out of her bedroom, still in her nightgown, the door shutting behind her. Blake stretched and looked towards Ruby's door, a wistful look on her face. Yeah, Yang couldn't swear Ruby felt the same, but old feelings were definitely stirring in Blake. When Blake turned towards the kitchen and noticed Weiss curled up with Yang, she opened her mouth to speak, but Yang lifted a finger to her lips, shushing Blake. Blake nodded and continued on to the kitchen, quietly starting to make breakfast.

Eventually, Yang's bladder raised an objection and she rose to use the bathroom, then joined Blake in the kitchen rather than trying to rejoin Weiss on the couch. "Morning," Blake said quietly, setting a cup of coffee on the breakfast bar in front of Yang.

"Morning," Yang replied with a yawn, scowling as she picked up the cup with her left hand.

"Forget your prosthetic?" Blake smirked, flipping pancakes.

"Yep. But I don't want to disturb her. She said she's got a thing about storms, so I don't think she was sleeping well last night. Might have climbed in with me without thinking about it."

"Might have." On the couch, Weiss stirred fitfully in her sleep.

* * *

_Weiss opened her eyes to see Yang staring back at her. "Morning, Snowflake."_

" _Good morning." They hadn't meant to spend the night together, but they'd sat up late talking and just drifted off in each other's arms. Weiss had to say this was probably the best night's rest she'd had in a long time, if ever. One thing was bothering her, though. "Morning, Sunflower," Weiss said, leaning over to kiss Yang softly on the lips._

_"'Sunflower' is it? Not sure I like that."_

_Weiss raised one eyebrow. "About as well as I like 'Snowflake,' I'd wager."_

" _Okay, you've got me there. Crap, it's later than I thought, I've got to get out of here, before-"_

" _Hey, Weiss!" Ruby burst in without even knocking. "Breakfast's ready, and have you seen Yang, I can't find her-oh. I, uh, see you at breakfast!" With a burst of her Semblance, Ruby was gone._

" _Dammit." Yang sat up. The moment was definitely ruined. "Ruby's not going to be able to keep quiet about this. We might as well go and face the music."_

" _Agreed." The pair rose and made themselves presentable, then went to join the others for breakfast._

_Conversation around the table was lively as usual, about just about every topic you could imagine. Well, every topic but one. Eventually, Yang sighed and leaned over to her sister. "You didn't tell everyone?" she said quietly._

" _Nope."_

_"Why not? I didn't think you'd be able to keep it to yourself."_

" _Not mine to tell." And Ruby gave Yang another one of those 'wise beyond her years' looks that Yang was seeing more and more these days._

_Yang just shook her head and glanced at Weiss, giving her a wink. The white-haired former heiress responded with a small nod._

" _What's not yours to tell? Is it a seeecret? Oh, I know! It's Yang's favorite cookie recipe!" Nora burst into the room, dragging her now-boyfriend Ren behind her._

" _Not mine to say, Nora." Ruby shook her head. "Kind of like how you felt about Ren. When you were ready, you were ready."_

" _Got it." The hammer-wielding girl sat down at one end of the table, starting to fill her plate. "Yay, pancakes!"_

_Weiss caught Yang's eye, then turned her head to take in everyone at the table before returning her gaze to Yang, a questioning look in her eye. Yang nodded with a grin. Weiss knew that Yang didn't care one way or the other who knew about them, but Weiss was a little shyer. She cleared her throat before picking up her coffee. "Actually, there is something you all probably should know: Yang and I are dating."_

_Stunned silence spread across the room, to be broken by a "Finally!" from Ruby._

_Nora stopped, her pancake-laden halfway to her mouth. "When did that happen? I can't believe it, that's incredible!"_

" _A few weeks, at least," Ruby said with a laugh. "I wouldn't have known if I hadn't caught them."_

" _I will have you know that Yang and I have been very discrete," Weiss said with mock indignation._

" _Not quite discrete enough." Ruby handed over her scroll. On it was a picture of Yang and Weiss kissing under a streetlight._

" _Our first kiss," Weiss whispered, handing the scroll to Yang._

" _S-She caught that? Oh my god, she did! And you kept it to yourself, all this time? I can't believe it!" Yang pulled her sister in for a hug. "Rubes, you are the best."_

" _On that, I will have to agree," Blake said, bending down to kiss Ruby on the forehead. "Ruby can be very caring at times."_

_The black-and-red-clad reaper's face flushed. "So, uh double surprise guys, Blake and I are a thing too. Sorry, didn't mean to steal your moment, but, well, we planned on telling everyone this morning anyway."_

" _So that's why you burst into my room, rousting me out for breakfast. You couldn't wait to tell everyone about you and Blake!" Weiss laughed, warming Yang's heart. Originally she hadn't liked the white-haired heiress much, but now, now she had a hard time imagining her life without Weiss in it._

" _So what's going on? What's all the fuss about?" Qrow stumbled in, shirt unbuttoned. "Sorry, took me forever to find my damn shoes this morning._

" _Yang and Blake are dating! Oh, and so are Ruby and Weiss!" Nora crowed, doing a celebratory twirl around the room._

_Qrow stopped. "What?"_

" _You got that mixed up, Nora," Yang laughed, poking the orange-haired girl in the stomach. "It's me and Weiss that are dating, and Ruby and Blake."_

_"Whoops!"_

_Qrow looked around the table, getting nods of agreement from Blake, Ruby, and Weiss. "Okay. Congratulations, I guess. But I am not telling your dad about this, for either one of you. That's on you."_

_After a quick reshuffling of the seating arrangements, the now-public couples were next to each other. Weiss leaned over and wrapped an arm around Yang, pulling her girlfriend close. This moment was absolutely perfect, and she wished they could stay like this forever._

* * *

"Yang?" Weiss's voice came from the living room, and Yang looked over to see her sitting up. "In the kitchen, babe," Yang replied pouring another cup of coffee in anticipation of Weiss's arrival.

But when Weiss stepped into the kitchen, she wrapped her arms around Yang, surprising the blonde brawler. "Sorry for curling up on the couch with you like that, but I, I, well the storm was terrifying me."

"It's okay. I'll admit I didn't exactly jump out of bed this morning." Yang looked down into Weiss's eyes. "I've missed hugging you and stuff."

"'Stuff' is it?" Weiss snorted. "I liked snuggling up with you last night, too." She took a deep breath, a smile spreading across her face. "But I think I remembered something from before."

Blake froze, almost cutting herself with the knife she'd been cutting vegetables with. Yang couldn't help herself; she picked Weiss up and twirled her around, dancing out of the kitchen and around the living room, crowing with delight. "That is absolutely fantastic, babe! What-what did you remember?"

Weiss laughed as Yang set her down. "I remembered the morning we told everyone we were dating. Your sister caught us in bed, so we assumed she'd told everyone, but she hadn't, and we told everyone anyway, and then she told everyone about her and Blake, but Nora told your uncle and got things mixed up." She paused, going over the memory in her mind. "Which sounds really crazy now that I think about it. Did it really happen like that?"

"That's pretty much it, yeah," Ruby murmured as she stood in the doorway of her room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Congrats on getting back some memories. Is there coffee?"

"There is." As if by magic, Blake suddenly stood in front of Ruby, a steaming cup of coffee held before her. "And... something else. Ruby, breaking up with you was probably the worst mistake I've ever made. Marrying Sun isn't far behind. I... I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

Ruby's brow furrowed, her still sleep-hazed mind processing what Blake had said. "Yes on forgive. More talk after coffee."

Yang and Weiss sat in the living room, giving Blake and Ruby space to talk in the kitchen while Blake cooked. "That smells divine," Weiss muttered, leaning up against Yang.

"Of the four of us, Blake is the best cook. Me, not so much. I practically burn water. You, on the other hand, are a good cook. Not as good as Blake, but better than me and Ruby."

"Mm. Something else I was thinking about yesterday. When you go out today, I want to go with you." Yang opened her mouth to protest, but Weiss raised a hand. "Please, I can't just sit here and do nothing. The VBI is investigating, the lawyers are litigating, there's not much for me to do at the moment but watch daytime TV. And that's a horror beyond imagining."

Yang glanced at the kitchen. Ruby was laughing and talking quietly, so she guessed things were going well in there. "I guess it's okay as long as the others agree, and the VBI doesn't think they'll need you today."

A knock on the door made the two of them get up to answer it. Standing there was a woman with pink and brown hair, smiling at them and holding a notepad with the words 'Hi, Weiss! Glad they found you!' written on it.

Weiss bolted. She ran back into the house, Yang yelling, "Weiss, wait, it's just-" She vaulted over the couch and kept on running, leaving Ruby and Blake looking surprised in her wake. Weiss didn't stop until she reached the room she'd slept in, scrambling across the bed, grabbing her pistol off the nightstand and sitting up against the headboard, gun aimed at the door, hands shaking in terror.

Yang peered into the doorway. "You okay, Weiss? It's just Neo."

"S-Something about that woman terrifies me," Weiss gulped, her heart still racing.

"Of all the things to remember...'' Yang sat down on the bed, careful not to block Weiss's view of the doorway. "Okay, Neo is a bit... complicated to explain. She used to hang around with a guy named Roman Torchwick. He found her, crying and alone on the street and took her in. Practically raised her like she was some kind of pet. He turned her into his own little pet psychopath, not teaching her much of anything but how to kill people. And then he died, and we thought she died, in the Fall of Beacon. When they found her alive, she got taken to Atlas. Some medical care, a lot of therapy, and plain old basic human kindness, and Neo turned out to be a pretty decent person. Spilled her guts about Torchwick's operation, his dealings with the White Fang and Cinder Fall, everything. A couple of years ago she ended up saving your brother's life and they've been inseparable ever since."

Weiss frowned. "So my brother's girlfriend is a woman who terrifies me? That's just wonderful," she grumbled under her breath.

Neo's hand stuck out from the side of the doorway, holding her notepad. 'Can I explain? I'm not here to hurt anyone, I promise!'

The pistol thumped down to the bed. "Sure, come on in. I promise not to shoot you out of hand."

Neo peered around the doorframe, then walked in slowly, hands away from her side. Her hand started to flash, and before Weiss could protest that she didn't know sign language, she realized she did. _Everything Yang says is true, although it leaves out a lot of details. I was born mute, and Roman was the first person to ever be kind to me, so all I wanted to do was please him. I didn't really understand that what I was doing was wrong. Now I do my best to be a good person. I'm not perfect at it, but I try. And I love your brother. He listens with his eyes better than anyone I've ever met, even Roman._

"'Listens with his eyes'?" Weiss ran that phrase through her mind. "Body language. One thing my brother's always been good at is reading body language. And since you can't talk, I bet you communicate with a lot of pantomimes and exaggerated body language, when you can't use sign language or notes. Am I right?"

Neo nodded. _That's right! And you just remembered something about Whitley, didn't you?_

"I did, I did! I remembered how good he is about reading body language, and I didn't even realize it." Weiss sighed. "I'm sorry for freaking out, Neo. I just..."

_It's okay,_ Neo signed. _I've gotten used to people not taking meeting me well. Whitley didn't realize the four of you knew me, so when he went to introduce me to all of you, it was interesting._

* * *

" _I wonder what this is all about?" Yang muttered as the three of them walked through the halls of Schnee Manor. The redecorating Winter and Whitley had been doing was really starting to show. Yang didn't think there was anything you could do to hide how much of a monument to the wealth and power of the Schnee family this place was, but at least they were trying to make the place less intimidating. Personally, she figured it'd be better to burn the place to the ground and start over, but she'd learned not to say that too loudly in front of her wife._

" _Yang, for the last time, Whitley invited us to lunch because he has someone he wants us to meet. Probably some girl he's smitten with. I can only hope his taste has improved."_

" _No fooling. Remember that simpering fangirl a while back. Wanted the glamour of being a Huntress, but didn't want to do the work?" Ruby shook her head. "Kinda blew her mind that you could be glamorous and badass at the same time, didn't it?"_

" _Yeah, my Weiss was something she just couldn't wrap her head around, wasn't she?" Yang grinned as she pulled Weiss into her arms. "Sure blew my mind, once I realized how awesome she is."_

" _Brute." Weiss's cheeks dimpled as she blushed down to her collarbone. Married for years and still, Yang managed to make her embarrassed. "You have until the stars themselves grow cold and dark to stop talking to me like that."_

_"No hurry then." Yang opened the door to the dining room, bowing her wife and sister inside._

_At the table, Whitley sat talking to a woman with brown-and-pink hair. Weiss stopped dead in her tracks. It couldn't be-! Then the woman lifted her head from listening to Whitley and looked at the three of them, her smile rapidly fading into horror. She backed up from the table, knocking her chair to the ground and glancing around the room as if searching for an exit. "Neo," Weiss hissed, wishing she hadn't left Myrtenaster at home._

_Whitley stood, glancing back and forth between his sister and Neo. "Neo, what's wrong? Do you, do you know my sister?"_

" _She tried to kill me, a long time ago," Yang spat, cracking her knuckles. She was going to enjoy this._

" _And me," added Ruby, flexing her hands. She might not be the brawler her sister was, but nothing was going to keep her out of this beatdown. "Tried to throw me off an airship at the Fall of Beacon. Come to think of it, how'd you survive that? The last I saw of you, you were plummeting to pretty certain death."  
_

_Neo glanced at Whitley, signing with her hands. "She says it's true she tried to kill both of you, but that was when she was working for Roman. And she survived the fall by landing on a Griffon and managing to ride it close to the ground before it died." Whitley sighed. "I suppose I should point out that I am fully aware of Neo's criminal past. She's served her time and given a large amount of valuable information to the Atlas authorities. If I'd known she knew the three of you, I would have handled today very differently. I'm sorry, everyone."_

_Neo reached over and picked up a notebook off the table, her hands trembling as she wrote in it. Tearing out the page, she stepped around the table and hesitantly handed it to Ruby then stepped back, her eyes full of fear. Ruby read the note out loud. "'I'm sorry for what I did to everyone. I can't ever make it up to you, nothing can undo the past. But I'm trying to live a better life going forward. I'm only going to ask you to give me a chance. Ruby, you don't have to answer this, but I have to ask: What happened to Roman Torchwick?'" Ruby looked up into Neo's eyes. "I'm sorry, Neo. He got eaten by a Griffon, right after you fell."_

_Neo nodded and turned away, wiping her eyes. Whitley pulled her into his arms, holding her. "Thank you for telling her," he said to Ruby. "I think she needed that, to finally put him behind her."_

" _Well, this is going to be an interesting lunch. Shall we be seated?" Weiss stepped over to the table and held out a chair for Yang. "And no-one is to stab anyone before dessert. It's poor manners."_

* * *

"Weiss? Weiss? Remnant to Weiss, helloooo?"

Weiss shook her head, glancing at Yang. "I was lost in another memory, this time of when Whitley 'introduced' us to Neo. 'And no-one is to stab anyone before dessert. It's poor manners.'"

Yang laughed. "Okay, yeah, that was a cool move on your part. Come on, let's find out why Neo's here."

Neo grinned, clapping her hands and jumping up and down. _Yay for more memories! Although I wish you'd get back some of the better ones of me. There are some, I swear! I brought the rest of what Ruby needs to fix Myrtenaster. Whitley sends his love and wishes he could be here, but he's almost literally up to his ass in Beowolves right now. Oh, and Nora had the baby, it's a boy this time, and both mother and daughter are doing fine._

"Awfully chatty for a mute, aren't we?" Weiss muttered as they walked into the living room.

_I didn't even know sign language was a thing until after, after I got captured. Learning to sign, well, I found out I had more to say than I thought. But that's not the most awesome part._ Neo stood in front of Weiss, clearing her throat. "Weiss," she squeaked, looking embarrassed and proud at the same time.

"Did... did Neo just speak?" Winter asked, startling everyone almost as much as Neo's utterance. "Sorry, I just arrived, and the door was open, so..."

Neo beamed. _The doctors said a while back that there was no physical reason I shouldn't be able to speak, that it had to be psychological. So I decided to try speech therapy. I can't talk much, not yet, but I can manage a word or two._ Neo went around the room, calling each of them by name. She even managed a "Sorry, Ruby" for Ruby. Afterward, she sat down on a couch, looking tired. _Sorry, it's still a strain, making myself talk. But it's getting easier,_ she signed weakly.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, you should be proud of yourself for overcoming an obstacle like that. How did Whitley take the news?"

_The first word he heard out of me was his name._

"Excellent." Winter nodded in approval at Neo. "Hopefully you will eventually be able to hold a conversation."

Yang cleared her throat. "Not to spoil the moment, but Weiss has a request. She wants to go with us today when we go out after the Lancers."

"Strictly as an observer," Weiss said before Blake or Ruby could protest. "I won't engage in combat, and I'll stay in the boat with whoever's driving you around. I just... maybe watching you will spark some more memories. And as sure as I am that Neo and Winter are good company, I don't want to sit around the house all day."

Ruby pursed her lips. "I suppose it's okay, as long as you try to stay out of the way. And I assume you're bringing that hand-cannon of yours?" Weiss nodded as Blake and Yang laughed. The three of them had been surprised at how big of a pistol Weiss carried. "Fine, then. If memory serves, used to be pretty good against Lancers."


	7. Chapter 7

It was a decidedly odd procession that made its way down to the docks the next morning. Leading the way were Weiss and Yang, arm in arm, chattering away, Yang fielding questions from Weiss. Behind them came Blake and Ruby, not quite as close together or as chatty, but a little more comfortable with each other than they had been yesterday. Next came Winter, her saber at her side, with 'This is a bad idea' practically written in permanent marker on her face.

Bringing up the rear was Neo, a frilly parasol on her shoulder, traipsing along like they were headed for an outing in the park, not off to hunt Grimm. There had been raised eyebrows from Weiss's teammates at the sight of the parasol, Yang even asking, "Is that what I think it is, Neo?" Neo had smiled and pulled the handle out just far enough to show the blade underneath. _Whitley had it rebuilt for me as an anniversary present. He meant well, he really did. But now I can use it to protect people I care about,_ she added with a wink.

Yang's laughter echoed across the docks, startling the fishermen getting their boats ready for the day. "Honestly, Weiss, do you think you brought enough ammo? I think you might be able to stuff a couple more in your bra."

Weiss tilted her head in consideration. "Now that is somewhere I hadn't considered hanging an ammo pouch. Do you suppose there might be a market for lingerie with built-in ammo pouches? I do believe there's an overlooked market opportunity there. Winter, do we know anyone that works in that area?"

"Coco's mother would be the one to talk to. A line of combat-ready undergarments is a wonderful idea, Weiss. Huntsmen will want them, obviously, in case of Grimm attacks during intimate moments. Father would be proud of your business acumen, sister."

Yang stopped dead in her tracks, gaping at the white-haired sisters. "You can't seriously be considering it, right? It'd be uncomfortable as hell!" Weiss laughed and grabbed the blonde's arm again, pulling her along, and Yang realized she'd Been Had. "Lost her memory and still playing me like a fiddle," Yang muttered.

"Really?" Weiss asked.

"It's the deadpan delivery. A lot of times, I can't really tell if you're joking or not," Yang admitted. "Like the cookie trees you had Ruby chasing in Vacuo."

"Hey, I was drunk! And you were helping her!" Ruby objected, her teammates laughing.

"What can I say, sis, I love a good prank."

A voice called from up ahead. "Ireia! Good to see you this morning. You joining our Huntresses today?" Up ahead she could see Merrin, leaning on the railing of his boat and waving at them.

"Merrin, hi! Don't tell me you haven't heard?"

"Heard what? I was out to sea for a week, got back really late day before yesterday. And then yesterday morning, the mayor offers me good money to ferry around the Huntresses. Not that I mind hanging around such a bunch of lethal and lovely ladies."

Weiss laughed. She was going to have this conversation a lot, it seemed. "I finally found out who I am, Merrin, the day before yesterday. My real name's Weiss Schnee, and the Huntresses you were ferrying around are my teammates. The other two are my sister, Winter, and our friend Neo."

"What, you a Huntress too? Didn't figure you for the type, figured you for some lost high-society girl. So, we on for that dinner now?"

Her face fell. She'd forgotten that she'd told Merrin she wasn't dating again until she knew who she was. "Sorry, but it turns out I'm married."

Merrin shook his head. "Just my luck, all the good ones are taken. Your husband, he's one lucky guy."

"Yeah, I am," Yang said, wrapping an arm around Weiss.

"Damn, put my foot in my mouth twice in under a minute." Merrin shook his head ruefully. "Sorry about that. Anyway, I got to thinking last night, after I got home, and I might have a good spot to look for our Lancer nest." He led them into the pilothouse and spread out a chart. "See, yesterday, you mentioned that Lancers like nooks and crannies to sleep in, but they don't like to go too far. What if they're going further than they normally would because the town and the fishing fleet are the only real targets in the area?"

Ruby frowned. "How much farther? And how good is the nesting site?"

Merrin tapped the map. "Well, the town is here. This is the search radius we were checking out yesterday." His finger slid across the map, stopping about a finger's width outside the circle. "And this is Banshee Rock. Might be just the thing, from what you were saying."

"Of course! Banshee Rock is the perfect place for a Lancer nest. The caves are a perfect nesting ground for them. Lots of little caves, so they can each have their own nest, plus enough vegetation for them to chew on. What?" Everyone was staring at Weiss. "I spent a couple of months crewing on Merrin's boat. I didn't like it, but I did learn something about the area."

Blake laid a hand on Weiss's shoulder. "It's good to have you back, Weiss."

"I'm not back, not all the way back, not yet." Without thinking about it, Weiss's' left hand drifted down to hover to her left, just above waist-level. She looked down, frowning. "Can-can anyone explain that? I catch myself doing it a lot."

Ruby shook her head. "No great mystery there. That's about where the hilt to Myrtenaster would be if you were wearing your combat outfit."

"I see." Annoyed that something that had puzzled her so much over the last year had turned out to be so mundane, Weiss bent back over the chart. "Anyway, Banshee Rock is definitely worth checking out. Even though there's a lot of fish there, the fishing boats avoid it. The waters are tricky to navigate, and there are a lot of Grimm reports in the area."

"Yeah, even if we don't find the Lancer nest, you'd be doing us a favor if you can clear up some of the Grimm around there. It'd open up some good fishing waters for us. Hell, you'd never buy your own drinks in the Roundhouse again. Ireia, why don't you go below and grab coffee for everyone. Unless anyone's got any other ideas, I'll set a course for Banshee Rock."

"Name's Weiss, not Ireia, remember," she tossed over her shoulder as she headed down below.

Frowning, Yang followed Weiss below, catching up with her as she entered the galley. She watched as Weiss filled a tray with cups of coffee, frowning as she did so. "So you and he are awfully chummy," Yang said, leaning up against a bulkhead.

"God, Yang, you startled me! And yes, Merrin and I are friends. Just friends. And yes, he asked me out. Like a lot of other men in town did—and yes, a few women. Yang," Weiss poked her wife in the chest, "I already told you, other than Leshin, there wasn't anyone else while I was here. And Leshin, Leshin took advantage of me." She leaned up against a cabinet, running her hand through her hair. "God, I still can't believe I fell for his bullshit. All that time he knew, he _knew_ who I was, and he pretended he cared about me, that he wanted me to get better. How the hell could I have been so stupid?!" Weiss slumped against the cabinet, slamming her fists against it, making Yang jump. "How the fuck do I move on from this, put my life back together? How, Yang, how?"

"Hey." Yang slid her arms around Weiss, moving carefully now that the boat was underway. "You do it the same way I handled it when you went missing. With help from family, friends, people who care about you. Probably a shrink or two, who knows? But we'll be here for you, day by day, hour by hour if need be. You know what I did, on the one-month anniversary of your disappearance? I got drunk. And I don't mean happy fun-time drunk, oh no. I got absolutely staggeringly, shitfaced verging-on-alcohol-poisoning drunk. You know who got me through this? My uncle, Qrow. Qrow, well, he's what you might call a professional drunk. He cleaned me up, listened to me crying and ranting and raving till I sobered up, fed me a solid meal, then fed me another one and another one till I kept it down, then looked me in the eye and asked me one question. One question, that's all. And that's all it took to drag me back up long enough to find you again."

"What was the question?" Weiss asked, her breath returning back to normal, head down against Yang's chest.

"'If Weiss walked through that door, right now, would you want her to see you like this? Because that's what you've got to hang on, for now, kiddo. The hope that somehow, somewhere, she's alive, and that there's a good reason she's not here.'" Yang chuckled. "Right now, what do you want to do most in the world? Come on, you can tell me."

"Umm..." A memory swam to the surface of Weiss's mind. "Find a sunny, sandy beach somewhere. Like that one in... Vacuo, I want to say, maybe I'm not sure. I remember you in a swimsuit, some guy hitting on you, you told him to take a hike, he persisted, I told him he needed to cool off, and then I launched him into the ocean somehow."

Laughter filled the galley. "I haven't thought of that in a while. And it was Menagerie, not Vacuo. Pest control for a new resort down there. The resort owner was kinda pissed because the jerk's dad was a major investor. Daddy was really pissed at first, then he got real understanding when he found out his son was hitting on one of the Huntresses that had just taken care of their Grimm problem. Insisted on us getting the royal treatment for a couple of weeks." Yang pulled back from Weiss, looking down and wiping the tears from her wife's face. "You know, if it wasn't for that jerk, I might not have gotten up the nerve to ask you to marry me? Two weeks together, no Grimm, nothing to do but be ourselves, it really showed me what you meant to me. And yeah, I overspent on the ring, but you, you're worth it, every Lien."

"My ring, I-I don't have my ring, where is it-! How could I forget?"

"Relax. Call the VBI guys, ask them if they've found it, have them ask Leshin. Who knows what that fucking weasel did with it. Could be sitting in a pawn shop, could have been in that box he buried in his yard, for all we know. We really didn't look through the box that hard, just grabbed your ID and Myrtenaster and high-tailed it to the mayor's office. Now, slightly less earth-shattering question: Of the seven people on this boat right now, how many of them take their coffee black? Because that's what you were fixing to head upstairs with." Yang leaned back against the other side of the galley, arms crossed, a challenging look on her face. "Consider it a challenge to see if you can fish out a relatively minor detail from your life."

Weiss scowled at her. Damn Yang for knowing the exact words that would make sure she couldn't back down. "Blake prefers tea, but takes her coffee with one sugar, Ruby likes so much sugar in hers it's practically coffee-flavored syrup, Winter likes hers black, I have no idea about Neo, and you... you like yours with a bit of honey in it."

"See, it's all in there, you'll find it. And you've got a lot of people who love you to help."

"Should I... should I fix everyone's coffee for them?"

"Nah, let em drink it black. Served them right for not getting up and getting it themselves, the lazy bums. Treat my wife like a waitress will they?"

Weiss handed the tray of coffees out to everyone, then took up position against the back wall of the pilothouse with her sister and Neo. Ruby, Blake, and Yang had taken up positions along the rail, though Weiss caught Yang glancing at her every now and then as she sipped her coffee. "She keeps looking at me, all the time. It's not like I'm going to disappear again." Weiss muttered.

"Consider it from her perspective. It's pretty much random chance that your teammates got assigned this hunt. So that's the second miracle on top of the first miracle that you survived in the first place." Winter's scroll rang, and she pulled it out, scowled, then sent the call to voicemail before putting it away. "Part of her mind has to be having trouble believing you're really here."

"I see. I sometimes wonder if this is all real myself. To go from having nothing, no-one to having so much... it's overwhelming." Winter's scroll rang again, and before her sister could put the phone away, Weiss snapped, "Winter, either answer whoever it is or turn off your scroll."

"I... we had a fight. I'm not ready to talk to him again yet."

Weiss snorted. "If whoever that is knows you, then he probably knows I'm missing. If you tell him I've been found and that you're helping me, he might leave you alone for a few days."

"There is merit in your suggestion, Weiss. I will step onto the back of the boat for privacy and return his call. If you will pardon me."

"Stern, Winter," Weiss called out as her sister opened the door to the pilothouse.

"Excuse me?"

"The back of the boat? It's called the stern. Possibly useful information, considering we're, you know, on a boat." Remembering she needed to call the VBI agents, Weiss pulled out her scroll. "Agent Rowan? This is Weiss Schnee."

"Mrs. Schnee, how are you? I was going to call you this morning. Do you know a woman named Callie Bordette? She may be connected to this."

"Callie? Small-time local riff-raff. Stays just enough on this side of the law not to get shipped off to prison. I'm not surprised if she's involved. Ask the mayor about her, but be prepared for an earful."

"Thanks for the tip, I'll talk to him. Was there a specific reason you called, or just wanting an update?"

"My wedding ring, I realized I don't have it this morning. Have you found it?"

"Ring? We've found a few in Leshin's house. Can you describe it?"

"Uh..." Weiss slapped herself on the forehead as she realized she didn't clearly remember what the ring looked like. "I'll hand you over to my wife; she'd probably be able to better describe it. I have remembered some things, now, but I don't remember the ring clearly. One moment." Weiss stepped out to where the others were leaning on the rail, handing her scroll over to Yang and explaining that she couldn't remember what her ring looked like clearly. Yang nodded and stepped away to speak with Agent Rowan.

Ruby seized the opportunity for a moment alone with Weiss. "You okay, Weiss? Being on a boat, out on the ocean and everything."

Weiss leaned on the railing, looking outward towards the ocean. "It's okay, honest, as long as a storm doesn't come up. I worked on this boat for a while, remember? Everyone pretended they didn't mind when I was too scared to leave my bunk because of a storm, but I knew. So I found a job onshore. Waitress, sales clerk, that sort of thing."

"And you and Yang?"

"We're... getting reacquainted. There's definitely a connection between us, I can feel it, but I need to get used to her again." Weiss's eyes turned toward Blake, who was back toward the pilothouse. "What about the two of you?"

"We're talking. There's a lot of pain between us." Ruby let out a long, drawn-out breath, staring at the deck. "The fight, the one that broke us up originally, that was my fault, and it was something stupid. So she ran off to Vacuo with Sun, on a job, and came back six months later married to him. And I, I didn't take that well. I was pretty shitty about it, honestly. You were the one that pulled me out of it."

"I was?" Weiss was surprised.

"Yeah. You dragged me off on a mission, then chewed me out when I screwed it up because I was too busy moping about Blake."

"'We're Huntresses, Ruby, not lovestruck schoolgirls. We have a job to do and you had better get started. Yes, you and Blake breaking up is bad, but right here, right now, we have work to do. And afterward, we're going to go get extraordinarily drunk, cry this out, and possibly even get in a bar fight.'" Weiss blinked; she didn't know where the words came from, but they felt right somehow.

Ruby's laughter echoed across the deck, making Blake and Yang both look over at them. "Yeah, that's about right. You know, me and Blake go all the way back to Beacon? I asked her out on a date, before the Fall, so it wasn't that serious, but after, well, after Haven, I asked her out again."

Weiss whistled. "So before your sister and I even had our first date? I'm impressed."

"Y-Yeah, Blake was my first crush, and I kinda fell head-over-heels for her. But I took her for granted and fucked it up. I know better, now, I hope." Yang finished her call and wandered back over to Weiss, Ruby giving the pair a wink and moving over to lean against the pilothouse next to Blake.

"Rowan says no luck on your ring, at least not yet, but they'll keep an eye for it. I even gave him the name of the jeweler's in Atlas where I bought it; 'Bandier's should have records, and I'm pretty sure they even put a maker's mark on their stuff."

"'Bandier's? That... that's not cheap."

* * *

_Weis smiled wistfully as she stepped through the front doors of Bandier's. It had an odd reputation, simultaneously one of the most famous high-end jewelry stores in all of Mantle, yet practically no-one actually knew where it was. It wasn't as if Bandier's deliberately kept anyone out, they just didn't advertise where the store was. And it was also almost literally true that if you had to ask where Bandier's was, you probably couldn't afford to shop there._

_Weiss herself had once owned quite a bit of jewelry from here, at least before breaking ties with her father. Now, now the former heiress to the Schnee Dust Company had to make do with much more modest decorations. Not that she felt the need for many, these days. A few trinkets, gifts from grateful clients and a few would-be suitors sufficed for adornment these days. The more expensive ones she had largely discarded as easily as she had the mantle of heiress, although with far more true regret. "Welcome back, Miss Schnee," whispered a clerk. "Please let us know if we can be of any assistance."_

_Weiss's icy blue eyes scanned the room, looking for her sister. Now, where was Winter? She'd asked Weiss to meet her, sharply at noon, but Winter was nowhere in sight. Then Weiss caught sight of a familiar figure among the clientele perusing the shining display cases and glittering baubles and scowled_

_She stalked toward her girlfriend, stopping a few feet behind Yang, hands on her hips. "Well, where is it? Let's see whatever bauble you can't really afford that you've decided to grace me with this time, so I can tell you 'No' and we can get some lunch. How many times do I have to tell you, Yang Xiao Long, that you don't have to buy my affection? That I don't need all those pretty things you keep trying to buy for me to know you love me?"_

_Yang turned around, shaking her head, a smile on her face. "And how many times do I have to tell you, Weiss Schnee, that I don't buy them because I'm trying to buy you, I buy 'em because it makes me happy to do it. In any case, I"m really hoping you'll accept this one." The blonde reached out and gently took Weiss's hands in hers. "Weiss, you know you mean the world to me. You make me incredibly happy, and I hope I make you happy too. I never gave a damn about your family name, or all that wealth you cast aside, one way or another, I just want you." Yang smiled nervously and got down on one knee, producing a small velvet box from seemingly nowhere, looking up into Weiss's eyes as she opened it. "Weiss Schnee, will you marry me?"_

_Weiss's breath stuck in her throat and she took half a step back in shock. This move was... unexpected to say the least. The moment stretched out, frozen in time, and she could see doubt start to creep into Yang's mind. That was simply unacceptable. She regarded the blonde with an icy stare. "I see," she said, her tone colder than the northernmost reaches of Mantle. "I suppose I should give you an answer, one way or another." Weiss reached down and grabbed the front of Yang's jacket, hauling the dumbstruck blonde brawler to her feet and pulling her close for a deep kiss. The room exploded in applause, and when the pair broke apart, breathing hard, Weiss had a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "That was a 'yes' in case you were wondering, you brute. And very clever using my sister as a cover for this. Now I believe putting on a ring is in order?"_

_Yang just nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She retrieved the box from where she'd dropped it when Weiss kissed her and held it out for Weiss to see. It was a simple titanium band, with a snowflake and dragon inscribed on it. Weiss just held out her hand, knowing she was grinning like a love-struck fool and hating it. Oh, her dignity be damned. Today she wasn't just a love-struck fool, she was the luckiest love-struck fool on the planet. "I-I'll have to get you one to match, obviously," she stammered as Yang slid the ring onto her finger._

" _'Bandier's will be pleased to provide our services, obviously," murmured the clerk behind the counter, and Weiss couldn't quite suppress a giggle as she recognized the manager, his jacket off and masquerading as a clerk._

" _Whose idea was this little ambush?" Weiss asked as Ruby, Blake and, yes, Winter finally came into view._

_Yang laughed. "They actually talked me down from my original idea. Can you imagine they called paying for every screen in Atlas Square to show the words 'Weiss Schnee, will you marry me?' needlessly extravagant? The very idea!"_

" _That might have been a bit extreme," Weiss demurred. Reaching for something to say next and not finding anything witty, she fell back on the mundane._

" _Is anyone hungry? I, I was ravenous before I came in, and I suppose I should eat, even though right now my stomach seems to be full of butterflies."_

* * *

"Another memory, babe?" Yang's voice broke softly into her reverie, and Weiss nodded jerkily.

"That day you ambushed me in Bandier's," Weiss mock-growled at her wife, and Yang couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh come on, babe, you've got to admit, it was a heck of a romantic gesture."

"Hey!" Merrin's voice came from the door of the pilothouse. "Hate to break things up, but Banshee Rock's dead ahead."


	8. Chapter 8

Yang was grinning as their boat zipped along the water towards Banshee rock, basking in the gloriously bright morning sun. Another wistful thought came to her mind, and she let loose a bright, bubbly laugh, making her teammates glance at her. "Somebody's in an oddly good mood this morning," Ruby laughed as she tried to concentrate on steering the boat.

The blonde brawler turned in her seat, looking back toward Merrin's boat. "Hey, I found my sunshine again, what can I say?" Yang could still make out Weiss, Winter, and Neo on the deck of the boat, watching the three Huntresses speed away on their mission. She stood up in the boat, blowing a kiss towards Weiss in a grand, overblown gesture. Weiss was yelling something at them, probably 'Sit down you brute,' or something like that. This only encouraged Yang to greater antics, and she started posing for Weiss, putting on a show for her found-again wife.

"Sit down, Yang. The rocks are really bad, and I don't want you to fall out," Ruby said as she eyed the waters around Banshee Rock.

"Aww, I'm just having fun. And don't tell me Weiss couldn't use the cheering up," Yang whined as she started putting on muscle poses.

"I said—" Ruby gunned the engine for a moment, making Yang lose her balance and sending her sister sprawling across the bottom of the boat, "— sit. Down. Working my way around these rocks is going to be tricky, and if you're capering around like an idiot, that's a distraction and something more I have to worry about. So take your seat."

"Owowow," Yang muttered as she climbed into her seat. "Why do you always end up driving the boat?"

"Because you can't seem to drive a boat without capsizing it," Blake snarked from up by the bow.

"That was one time, one time!"

"Which 'one time' were you talking about, sis? Let's see, there was that time at the resort in Menagerie—come to think of it, weren't you showing off for Weiss, that time?"

"Or the time off the coast of Mantle. The water was _cold,_ Yang," added Blake, giving an exaggerated shudder.

"Oh, I'd forgotten about that. Then there was twice in the same day off Vacuo..." Ruby was grinning now, they were getting into prime sister-teasing territory.

"Hey, the Grim helped with both of those! Let's see you dodge Grimm on a motorcycle, little miss smarty-pants!" Yang couldn't help but laugh; she knew exactly what her sister and teammate were doing, trying to distract her from worrying about Weiss.

"So how's she doing, Yang? Really doing? I know she lets her guard down more around you," Ruby asked, keeping her voice low so Blake could at least pretend she didn't hear it.

"Everything's not sunshine and rainbows if that's what you're asking. She's angry and confused." Yang pushed her sunglasses back into place with a grimace before continuing; she didn't like what she was about to have to say, but that didn't make it any less true. "It's going to be a while before she's ready to fight beside us again, even though I can tell she wants to."

"Mm. She's looking for a purpose in her life. For the past year, that purpose has been finding out who she is. Now that purpose has been fulfilled, so she needs another one. But she's trying to sidestep her recovery because that's going to be really hard and messy and awkward. Weiss thinks fighting Grimm will be easier than, say, sorting out her relationship with you."

"Can't say I blame her. I'd rather kiss a Beowolf than see her in pain like this, even for an instant." Yang's voice dropped low barely above a whisper, and Ruby could hear the suffering and pain in her sister's voice. "But I have to be here for her because I promised her. And I meant it, with all my heart and soul."

From a distance, Banshee Rock had looked barren and foreboding. Up close, it was even more barren and foreboding, with a side order of eerie. The wind howled over the barren, rocky landscape, and Yang couldn't help but shiver, despite the heat of the day. "Guess we know why they call it Banshee Rock, right gang?" she quipped as she lifted her sunglasses to peer under an overhang.

"I dunno, this would make a great place for a rave. Some blacklights, the DJ under that overhang, it could seriously be a thing," Ruby laughed, pulling Crescent Rose from her back and extending it into rifle configuration.

Yang snorted. "And what would little miss innocent know about a rave, hmm?"

Blake burst out into a laugh. "I hate to break it to you, Yang, but your sister stopped being innocent a long time ago. Trust me," she added with a smirk.

"Why Blake, are you implying that I am anything but a sweet and innocent young maiden?" joked Ruby as she jumped up on a boulder for a better view.

"I'm not implying anything, I'm stating facts," Blake retorted, pulling Gambol Shroud and checking the magazine.

"Gang..." Yang sighed. "Look, I don't want to be a buzzkill, and I'm kinda glad you two are working things out, but behave yourselves, okay? Weiss and I... it's complicated right now. Plus Blake's still legally married to Sun."

Blake and Ruby both stopped, looking at each other in embarrassment. "Were we..." Ruby began.

"...yeah, we were. Sorry, Yang," Blake finished.

"It's cool." Sand crunched under Yang's boots as she climbed up the incline towards the rocks, listening for Grimm. "Again, just behave yourselves, okay?" Yang flexed her hands, the bracelet on her left arm extending out into its gauntlet form, barrel sliding out of her prosthetic arm. "Beowolves," Yang hissed, stepping back and settling into a ready position.

The first Beowolves charged around the corner at them, and Yang met the leader head-on, her fist slamming into its nose and knocking it flying backward. She spun to her left, hair flinging wide behind her, and brought both fists down in a hammer blow to the side of another Beowolf that was trying to slip past her to the others.

Ruby bit off a curse and shifted Crescent Rose into its scythe form, complete with butt spike. There was going to be up close and crazy, the best kind of fight. She jumped off the boulder, swinging Crescent Rose wide to cut three Beowolves into pieces, _slash-slash-slash,_ using the lightning speed that was her trademark. Off on the other side of Yang, Ruby could see Blake whirling, taking one Beowolf's head off with Gambol Shroud's sheath even as she fired three rapid shots into another, getting its attention only to leap back when it charged, leaving a shadow clone in place to distract the best as she sliced across its torso in an X pattern with both halves of Gambo Shroud.

"No grandstanding gang, our audience has seen this before, even if Weiss doesn't remember it," Ruby joked, zipping right, then left, cutting an Alpha Beowolf into pieces.

"Who was grandstanding? I was just enjoying myself," Yang joked, leaping into the middle of the pack of wolf-like Grimm, slamming her fist into the ground and knocking Beowolves flying.

Blake sidestepped one of the flying Grimm, slicing it in half lengthwise with Gambol Shroud. "I think we're all enjoying ourselves a little bit, Ruby. We found Weiss, and our team's back together again."

"In more ways than one," teased Yang, grabbing a Beowolf that was trying to claw her and swinging it wide, using it to bludgeon two more. "Puny Grimm!" The other two laughed at the blonde brawler's antics.

"Okay, yeah, we can have some fun too," Ruby sighed, using her semblance to dash through a pack of Beowolves, cutting off all their right forearms.

Yang facepalmed, dodging hastily to one side as a mutilated Grimm swiped at her. "Again with that trick, Ruby? Okay, I swore a long time ago I wouldn't ask why, but now I gotta: Why all their right limbs?"

"Because Grimm ain't right," Blake and Ruby chorused, laughing even as Yang groaned that puns were her job.

"Seriously, guys, something's off here," Yang said, knocking a Beowolf on its side and stomping its skull to send it evaporating into oblivion. "Isn't it odd to see this many Beowolves on an uninhabited island? You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Spawning pool?" Ruby asked, changing her scythe into its rifle form and firing shot after shot into the next wave of Grimm.

"That would make sense." Blake rolled under an Alpha Beowolf's claws, firing three rapid shots from Gambol shroud under its chin. "Lot of Beowolves for an island this small, and more Alphas than normal."

"So, confirm the pool, then run away and call for backup?" Yang yelled, meeting a Grimm's charge with her fist, knocking it backward only to have it evaporate even before it hit the ground.

"Sounds like a plan, sis."

* * *

Weiss sighed as her teammates moved off the beach and out of view, into the rocky and rugged interior of Banshee Rock. She scowled. "I suppose it was inevitable they'd end up moving where I couldn't see them, wasn't it?"

"Indeed, sister." Winter stepped up to the railing where Weiss had been watching the battle n the beach. "I see your wi-Yang hadn't lost her taste for flamboyance in combat."

Weiss rolled her eyes as she turned to face her sister. "It's okay to call her my wife, Winter. After all, we are married. And I, I'm starting to remember some of our time together."

Winter nodded in approval. "Good. I can only hope that continues. So what have you remembered? I find myself... intrigued."

"Well," Weiss spoke slowly, organizing her thoughts so she didn't forget anything she'd managed to recall this morning, "I've remembered the morning we told our teammates we were dating, the day Whitley 'introduced' us to Neo — I really am truly sorry for my reaction this morning, Neo — and the day the two of you ambushed me in Bandier's."

"'Ambushed' is such an... unpleasant word, Weiss. 'Surprised' is more appropriate, I think." Winter smiled softly down at Weiss. "Honestly, Yang has a tendency for overblown gestures, so Ruby and I impressed upon her the need for restraint. We were afraid she'd scare you off if we let her use one of her more elaborate ideas."

"Like renting every screen in Atlas Square?" Weiss couldn't help but cringe at the idea. She'd seen pictures of Atlas square, and there were a _lot_ of screens of varying sizes.

"Indeed, although the news of your engagement was displayed there within hours, complete with video of the happy moment taken from Bandier's security cameras. I do believe someone got fired over that." The elder Schnee sister gestured toward the island. "Well, it may be some time before they return, so why don't we go down below and have some coffee and talk?"

"That sounds like an excellent suggestion. What can you tell me about my career as a Huntress?. You weren't a member of our team, obviously, but I'm sure you must have heard stories." Something quivered in the shadowy depths of Weiss's mind, something dark and ugly, but she pressed on regardless.

"Indeed. Even before we took control of the company away from our father, you and I had grown... closer after your return to Atlas. One of my favorite memories is the day Father dropped in for a random visit, only to find you and your teammates sitting in my living room. He tried to demand you return home with him then and there."

Weiss laughed. "From what I've heard, I probably told him to go fuck himself sideways."

_...fire everywhere, all those lovely flower arrangements they'd worked so hard to get right, burning..._

Her sister nodded. "In almost exactly those words. By then Yang and your other teammates had begun to 'rub off on you' significantly, in ways both good and bad. Father did not take it well and tried to strike you. In return, you broke his nose."

_...Yang in the suit she'd chosen to wear for their wedding, squaring off with a White Fang goon wielding a fucking chainsaw of all things..._

"Weiss? Weiss? Weiss?!"

* * *

When Ruby, Yang, and Blake returned to Merrin's fishing boat, they found Weiss laying incoherent in one of the crew's bunks, her sister sitting next to her, talking softly. Winter stood at their approach. "We were talking and she collapsed. Since then, all she's said was the same thing, over and over again."

"What's she saying?" Blake asked as she knelt down to examine Weiss. Over the years, she'd turned into the team's default medic.

"'I killed him. My god, I fucking killed him."


End file.
